Playing with Fire
by TammyCat
Summary: Whoever said, 'All was fair in love and war' should be shot. Rating will change.
1. War

**Don't you hate it when you have to kill the one you like...that's just life I guess**

**Thank you to Vasdarkangel for the name xx**

**Disclaimer: This is for the entire story - I do not own Transformers in any way.**

* * *

**#1**** War**

The battlefield was a terrible and vicious place. The open plains they fought on were barren and smoking. But war was war and there was no place you could hide from the pain it caused.

The first and second waves had been shock troops, made up of mindless droids and drones, designed and programmed to destroy anything in their path. The damage done to the field was unnecessary; the waves of drones had already demolished the once fertile energy-producing field, turning it into a ravaged shell of what it had once been.

But then the war does that. It had already sucked most of the life out of the planet and turned the once beautiful cities into dull ruins. The people had also been robbed of their lives.

Firefly sneered at the scraps of metal that littered the battleground on the screen infront of her. She was glad all of her troops were completely autonomous. Not brainless fools.

The clicking of her radio alerted Firefly to an incoming communication. *_Commander Firefly. Come in Commander_.*

*_Received._*

*_What are the results from the first and second contingents?_*

*_Negligible. Neither us nor the enemy has the advantage. Are there new orders?_* Firefly knew her report was unwelcome but she no longer cared. She was dead inside.

After a moment of obvious deliberation a reply crackled through. *_Hold for reinforcements. Platoons Twelve and Fifteen will join your command by morning. Received?_*

*_Received and understood_.*

*_Kaon out._*

Firefly scowled, it was Central Command's favorite maneuver; send more warriors in hopes of gaining an advantage. Fortunately they were currently 'winning' the war, proving that it usually worked.

Looking through a window at her troops, Firefly felt a twinge of regret that almost half would be joining the Primus in Oblivion earlier than they expected. Squashing the interfering emotion, she returned to her temporary housing.

Firefly's quarters were situated in a heavily defended section of the compound along with the other high-level officers. The cramped lodgings held only a recharge berth and a desk. Firefly eyed the stack of reports her assistant had left on the desk and felt what was left of her morale die. She slowly removed her heavy battle-armor.

"If there's anything I hate more than this war, its paperwork." She muttered sitting on the berth. "And Autobots." She slipped into recharge.

* * *

"That can't be right! _I'm_ supposed to be in charge." The nasal voice whined.

"Shut up Starscream! Your voice does nothing but cause headaches." Firefly said angrily.

"I shall contact Megatron about this."

"This _is_ Lord Megatron's order you fool." Rubbing the metal ridge between her optics Firefly turned her back on the furious Air-Commander. "You can take your jets and select others from my command while I lead the ground forces." There, that way he'd still have some control. Idiot Seeker.

The ambitious Decepticon weighed his choices and bowed reluctantly. "As you wish Commander Firefly."

Firefly stared down her nose at Starscream. The gesture's impact was slightly lessened since Starscream was taller than her. Starscream was nothing more than a glorified attention seeker; with that last thought she dismissed him from her mind.

Firefly returned her attention to the battle plan she had been studying before Starscream had burst into the Command Center. The electronic map infront of Firefly showed the placement of Decepticon troops and the last known location of Autobot forces. According to their Intel, the Autobots were staying in a tight formation.

"What is the plan of attack Commander?" Her third-in-command, Stormcloud, asked.

"Attack head on with all our power!" Starscream declared clutching the edges of the table.

The irritated femme focused on the pain building in her head before slamming her fist into Starscream's face, causing him to hit the wall behind him with a crash. Her latest promotion allowed her to beat her underlings, something Firefly hadn't taken advantage of until now.

"Do you make a career out of being stupid?" Firefly sneered before facing her third-in-command. "Ignore him. Break the troops into three sections. Barricade will take Team A to cover the western plains, you will take Team B to the eastern cliffs, and I'll bring the third team up from the south. Starscream and the jets will supply air cover while we converge on the Autobot forces." She moved the colored counters indicated on the map. The little scribe-bot next to her copied out her orders.

Firefly waited until the orders had been handed out to the relevant officers. Stormcloud looked pleased that he had been given a command, Starscream still looked angry. Retrieving the last set she left the headquarters in search of Barricade.

* * *

The tough officer was lounging around the shooting-range watching as the recruits practiced at blowing apart Autobot dummies. Firefly noticed the favorite targets were the Autobot leader; Optimus Prime, the dangerous Weapons Specialist; Ironhide and Primes' first lieutenant; Jazz, even the irritating twin Autobots were a target. Firefly looked away as a particularly eager young soldier riddled the 'Jazz' dummy full of holes.

"Barricade. New orders." Firefly held out the datapad. Barricade jumped to his feet with a salute. "Don't go regulation on me now 'Cade. We've known each other too long." Barricade was the first and only Decepticon she had trusted. A worthwhile investment.

The large black Decepticon laughed. "I didn't expect to see you down here _Commander_. Don't you have drones to do deliveries for you?" He reclined again.

Firefly sat next to him "You're lucky I don't take you down for insubordination. And yes I do have drones." Firefly scowled as Barricade chuckled. "But Starscream is making my circuits fry, too much longer and I would have had to kill him."

Barricade groaned. "There's a mech that tempts ya to join the Autobots just so ya can shoot him." He looked at the datapad. "So when's the call?"

"We leave at dawn." Firefly replied grimly. "I want every soldier who can hit a target from one-thousand meters supplied and ready to fight."

"And the rest?"

"We need more cannon fodder." With that Firefly turned and walked away. Stopping for a moment at a free range she pulled out her gun and sent several bullets thudding into the target. The young recruits gathered around the dummy as Firefly holstered her gun.

Barricade watched as his old friend left the range and headed back to the Command Center. He knew part of what had happened but he still wondered who had turned her from an ambitious and determined femme into a cold and merciless officer. Approaching the target Barricade scattered the curious soldiers back to their training. Examining the target he saw that she had put a series of neat holes directly between the dummy's optics.

"I feel sorry for whoever pisses her off. Even if it is the Autobots." Barricade deftly removed the 'Sideswipe' target off the stand.

* * *

Optimus Prime paced around his Command Center. His officers and technicians were tapping on keyboards and running through the base. His lieutenant stood tensely to one side, his weapons specialist sat at a bench polishing his cannons.

A clerical droid approached him with a datapad. Scanning the screen he cursed. "Jazz. Ironhide" The officers appeared next to him. "Gather the troops. The Decepticons are moving."

"Where?"

"Sky Spy observed them moving in three groups." Prime handed the datapad to Jazz. "One east, one west. The third is coming from their base with a battalion of jets."

"They're going to surround us." Jazz guessed correctly. Prime nodded.

Ironhide's engine rumbled. "What are the odds?"

"According to both Bumblebee's and Sky Spy's information. Three to two, at our disadvantage. "

"What's the plan?"

"Establish a defensive blockade. Get Trailbreaker to create a force-field over the Commander Center and the Infirmary. Ironhide, make sure the company is armed and prepared."

"It's times like these that I wish Prowl were here." Jazz said gravely.

Optimus grimaced behind his mask. "Unfortunately Prowl was needed at Simfur."

"Have we received any reports on their situation?"

"No. The last one I received was from Springer. They were still engaged and, as much as I'd like to think that having the Wreckers around in a fight increases our odds, I think having them at Simfur only just makes it even."

"How did it happen Optimus?" Ironhide asked. "How did this war get so out of hand?"

"I don't know, Ironhide, but right now we have to focus on surviving the Decepticon's attack."

Jazz and Ironhide nodded before leaving.

Prime shut down his optics and thought back to a time when there was no war. Over four million years ago. Shaking his head he re-established his focus in the activity around him. The Autobots would look to him to lead them through this war alive. He prayed to Primus that he could.

* * *

The sectioned army had been marching since before dawn. Starscream had complained loudly when he was forced to join the other high-level officers in the pre-dawn light. Firefly, already tired and stressed, had snapped.

"Starscream, so help me. If you don't start showing some backbone I will remove your neural transistors and rewire you into a cleaning droid!"

Silence had followed her outburst and she had been extremely pleased that her station was that little bit higher than Starscream's.

It was now hours later and her section of the army was poised to attack the Autobot base at the base of the hill. Firefly had stopped her minimized army just out of firing range. Much to Starscream's displeasure.

Firefly now stood near the rear-guard of her troops. Surrounding her were her officers, elite warriors and sharp shooters. Closer to the front were the less accurate but determined soldiers, at the very front were the thick armored mechs that were only good for close-combat. She considered many of them to be completely incompetent fools who could do nothing but swing their fists.

Firefly privately thought that Starscream should be in charge of that group instead of the effective aerial squadron.

Every soldier knew their duty. The shock troops were to break down the initial defenses and take out as many of the enemy as possible. The second wave would follow them at a safe distance and use the Autobot soldiers as target practice. The elite soldiers would pick off any Autobot officers they could catch in their cross-hairs.

* * *

The assault was at a standstill. The shock troops had done their job and were mostly lying in piles of scrap metal. The Decepticon forces were being valiantly kept back. The force-shield around the Command Center had managed to withstand several volleys of highly explosive energon-enhanced missiles. The Autobots were taking a beating but so were the Decepticons.

Firefly watched from her position at the top of the hill. She had noticed that the amount of Autobot forces in the field was surprisingly low. A thought flickered through her mind. _They're preparing for a rush_.

It made sense since the battle wouldn't…no, couldn't be won until Optimus Prime had stepped onto the field. With him would come the best the Autobots had to offer; Ironhide, Jazz, Prowl, Hound, Bluestreak, Mirage, Blaster and the troublesome twins Sunstreaker and Sideswipe.

Only when they were on the field would Firefly herself join the fray.

Communicating to her leading officers, Firefly surreptitiously pulled back the best of her forces. Starscream and the jets were still cruising overhead picking on the small contingents of Autobots.

A tense quiet spread over the combat zone. Firefly could practically smell the anticipation coming off the surviving Autobots. They knew Prime was going to try and push back the Decepticons.

Not on her day. The crackle of her radio distracted Firefly from the battle. The interruption was not welcome so close to a major turn in events.

*_What do you want, you incompetent fools?_* Firefly demanded harshly.

*_Does that mean the battle is going well Firefly?_*

Firefly almost fell over with shock. *_L-lord Megatron! Please forgive me my lord I was not expecting you._*

*_Only if you tell me good news._*

*_The attack is proceeding well but Optimus Prime has not yet emerged. I suspect the Autobots will be attempting to repel our forces en masse soon._* Firefly worried during the silence that followed her report, if Megatron was angry it would seriously damage her plans regarding the illustrious leader.

*_That Prime hasn't made an appearance is concerning. He will fight soon. I will make sure of it._*

*_My lord?_*

*_Alert the Decepticons, Commander Firefly. I will be joining you soon._* The radio switched off.

Firefly heaved a sigh of relief. Megatron wouldn't kill her, hopefully.

As bidden, Firefly warned the Decepticons of Megatron's imminent arrival. The responses she received ranged from joyous to absolute terror.

Focusing back on the task at hand Firefly noticed that the last of the Autobots had fled into their base. The lower soldiers were celebrating. With a terse communiqué Firefly ordered the superior officers to take control of their units.

The last of the unruly warriors were being shepherded into regulation units when the battle cry came from the Autobot base. Immediately centering her attention on the roar, Firefly saw Optimus Prime leading his soldiers into battle. With a similar cry, Firefly sent forth her soldiers; the elite ones that had been waiting for Prime and his best to join the fight. Transforming quickly, Firefly took to the sky. Searching.

Traveling above the smoke and laser-fire, Firefly took a moment to enjoy the almost dance-like destruction under her. It was harsh and brutal while at the same time being graceful and efficient.

Firefly's mind wandered as she glided above the carnage. It had been a long time since she had been dancing. In Tyger Pax, before it had been reduced to ruins. Two weeks to herself, without allegiances. She had walked through the glittering city and reveled in the sense of the freedom, lost herself in the arms of a friend and made unforgettable mistakes.

Shaking off her daydream Firefly hunted for her prey.

*_Firefly! I could use some help here._* Barricade buzzed through her communicator.

Homing in on his signal Firefly found herself over the western edge of the battle-field. She located Barricade, outnumbered and outgunned.

Dropping in next to him she took the heads off two Autobots with her pulse cannon.

"Happy to see me?" She asked lightly, blocking an attack from her enemy.

Barricade growled in response. "I'll be happier when Megatron gets here." The effect his words had on the Autobots around them was instantaneous. They moved away from the two Decepticons as fast as possible.

"They're running away as if you said that you were Megatron in disguise." Firefly said as she watched them run.

Barricade grinned. "Stupid, fearful Autobots. They tremble in fear at the mere mention of his name. I'm looking forward to what happens when Megatron actually arrives."

"They'll drop their exhausts." Firefly laughed. "What we need is something tougher than these greens."

"Just not the Wreckers." Barricade uttered as he sent plasma blasts at the retreating Autobots.

"I hate those guys." Firefly agreed. "But I still want a challenge."

A new voice interrupted. "It's over here." Firefly stalled and turned, she knew that voice. Facing her was one of Prime's best warriors, Sideswipe.

Barricade powered up his weapon next to her. "No 'Cade. I'll take him." The Decepticon shrugged and leapt into a group of Autobots.

Firefly approached the warrior slowly. "It's been a long time, Sides. You think you can handle me?"

"I could back then. No different now."

"As I recall you went home fairly banged up."

Sideswipe smiled slowly. "Less _banged_ up than you."

Firefly's jaw tensed against the retort on her tongue. He wouldn't get the better of her. "Let's do this." She loaded her gun and rushed him.

It would have been smarter for her to find some cover and shoot the slag out of him while he was in the open, but Firefly like a challenge and going up against Sideswipe had always been a challenge.

The impact of their bodies echoed around the smoking battleground. Sideswipe caught Firefly's wrist before she could shove the gun's muzzle in his face. Firefly felt Sideswipe's gun trapped between them. Inching apart, she caught hold of the warrior's gun; her fingers were inches from the trigger. Dropping her gun she wrenched her wrist from Sideswipe's grip and placed it at his throat, using the strength in her hand she pierced the metal on his neck as she tried to rip out his main energon pipe. Sideswipe's free hand was at her wrist once again, keeping it from reaching its destination.

"Don't fight me Sideswipe. One of us will fall today, and it won't be me. Bow to the inevitable."

They were locked, straining against each other. Neither could move. Firefly looked up at the Autobot, he was several feet taller than her and managed to be frightfully intimidating on the best of days. Today was not a good day. With lightning speed he loosened the hand at his throat and pulled it behind her back. They were now flush against each other, each still trying to gain the advantage.

"This reminds me of something." Sideswipe said suddenly. "Do you remember that time in Tyger Pax? Before you destroyed it."

"Who says it was me?".

"I knew. When I heard what had been hit first. That club. _Our_ club." He seemed almost sad.

Firefly's optics flared. "There was no 'our'."

"Of course there was. You remember that club." His voice was tight, raw. "Where I held you like this. Well, almost like this. You weren't fighting me then. I remember that night too, we were dancing. I never knew you could move like that."

"Shut up." Firefly had heard that Sideswipe was brutal during battles but this was the first time she had felt his cruelty. How dare he bring up their dead and buried past.

"I liked it. You would sway and move. All sleek lines and smooth curves. It heated my engine."

Firefly's chest heaved with untapped emotion. "I said shut up."

Sideswipe ignored her. "Look at you now. I could barely tell it was you through all that armor. I wonder if your weak spot is still in the same place." His hand behind her back inched up, taking her hand with it. They were between her shoulder blades before he released a finger and ran it over her armor. Firefly trembled remembering the last time he had done that.

In Tyger Pax.

Her air-take had become labored as Sideswipe continued to probe at the armor near her neck. The arm trapped behind her back was beginning to ache.

"Looks like you're wearing heavier stuff these days." He commented when he didn't get the reaction he had been searching for.

_You have no idea_. "It moved. Only I know where it is now."

"I reckon I could find it."

"I don't think so."

Sideswipe grinned again. "I don't know. After a couple of high-grade energon drinks and some dancing you were eager enough to show me last time."

"This time's different. I hate you." She narrowed her optics.

"I don't believe that."

"Then you're a fool."

"I know." Sideswipe's head dipped towards her. Pulling back her neck as far as possible Firefly still couldn't avoid the soft caress of his lips against her cheek. His whisper caressed her neck. "I miss you."

"Stop it Sides. We're at war." She reminded him unsteadily.

"I know." His optics were sad.

"One of us _will_ fall today." Firefly said, reminding herself as well as Sideswipe. She stared into the red mech's blue optics and wondered why they were fighting at all.

A sudden loud thud brought the struggling pair back to their surroundings. Firefly threw a look over her shoulder and saw Megatron engaged with Optimus Prime.

"Megatron." Sideswipe growled next to her auditory receptors. He looked down at Firefly, she felt his hand tighten on hers. "Stay with me."

Firefly's optics widened. "What?"

"Leave them. Stay with me."

"No." She couldn't believe he was saying this again. Firefly reminded herself of her hatred for the Autobots. For _this_ Autobot. "The Decepticon cause is my life. I have gotten further in their army than I ever could with the Autobots."

An unreadable look past over Sideswipe's face." I heard that you were fairly important these days."

"Fairly important? Hah!" Firefly scoffed. "This is _my_ attack. _I_ arranged it. _I_ led it. The glory of its victory will be _mine_." Her pleasure at seeing the shock on Sideswipe's face was less than she had expected. "I am second only to Soundwave."

"I'm impressed."

"So is Lord Megatron. I have made myself _very_ noticeable."

Firefly almost crowed when she freed her hand. Bringing it around she slammed it into Sideswipe's temple. Firefly had mistaken how much of her weight was leaning on Sideswipe and found herself toppling with him.

She landed on Sideswipe's middle, legs splayed on either side. They fought for the gun in his left hand; Firefly's hand was still wrapped around it. Her free hand delivered several blows to his head while he tried to fend her off.

Then the trigger was pulled. Both warriors flinched at the explosive sound.

"I told you one of us would fall." She said quietly before tipping sideways and collapsing on the ground. Energon leaked out of the hole in her chest. Sideswipe held her as she went off-line.

* * *

**What did you think? Worth another chapter? Please review and let me know.**

**TammyCat**


	2. Awakening

**Have you noticed that they never seem to stay dead for long?**

* * *

Shockwave worked quickly. He had promised Megatron that the femme would be fully operational in five cycles. If the mechaniod had been able to sweat he would have. Three deca-cycles had past and the femme wasn't showing any signs of improvement.

Moving plates of armor aside he reached her protoform. Like most other femmes she was built smaller than a mech. They were intended to work in the cities as administrators and tacticians, not as combat warriors. He studied the mass of damage under the chest plating. The femme's large upper chassis was thicker and designed to protect the vulnerable spark within.

Shockwave dug his fingers into the grooves of the light armor, searching for a latch that would expose her spark. A pulse of electricity arched from the armor to his hand. Snatching his hand away he rubbed at the scorch mark left behind.

The lab doors slid open behind him. Hard foot falls caused him to turn. Megatron's cold red optics glared at him. Fear snaked through Shockwave's processor. He was glad he didn't have a face to betray his emotions.

"Report."

"The procedure is more complicated than I expected, Lord Megatron. Her body is rigged with numerous traps."

"How much longer, Shockwave?"

The purple mech controlled the shiver of terror caused by Megatron's quiet anger.

"Four deca-cycles."

Megatron's optics narrowed. "Can it be done sooner?"

"No, my lord." Shockwave replied bracing for his leader's fury.

Instead of hitting his minion Megatron scowled at the femme. It would be easier just to let her pass into Oblivion, but then again she had a great deal of potential as well as a deep well of hatred for the Autobots. He had plans for her.

"Continue repairs. I want her functional for when I return."

"You're leaving, Lord Megatron?"

"Yes. Optimus Prime has located a new energy source and we're going to take it from him. You, Shockwave, will remain behind to safeguard Cybertron."

"Yes, my lord." He bowed.

The silver tyrant nodded once and left the lab. Shockwave waited until he could no longer hear Megatron's footsteps before turning back to the femme on the table. He had known that an expedition had been arranged. It was hard not to notice when the Nemesis was teeming with activity.

A sigh escaped his vocalisers as he picked up his tools again. He'd get the femme commander back on her feet if it was the last thing he did, even if it was to save his own chassis from Megatron's fury.

* * *

Pain lanced through Firefly's CPU and caused a dark throbbing through her head. Her engine lurched powerfully as her systems started rebooting. Air-intake valves snapped open and her body shuddered. Tingles appeared to flow from her spark down her limbs. Her chassis continued to shake as support systems and hydraulics powered up.

A pained cry emerged from her throat. The unfamiliar sensation of terror filled Firefly as she realized she was blind; environmental sensors were off-line and her optics were unresponsive.

She cut off her terrified scream incase it attracted undesirable company. In her extremely vulnerable state she couldn't risk making a target of herself. Reduced to using only her audio sensors to determine her location, Firefly stopped moving and listened but she couldn't seem to hear anything over the whoosh of her vents. Where was she? Still on the battlefield?

Surely they wouldn't have left here there. She was far too important to be left behind like some useless debris, wasn't she?

Forcing her fear aside Firefly analyzed what she remembered. The battle, fighting Sideswipe, Megatron's arrival, the gun shot and pain. Was she dead? No. If she was dead it wouldn't hurt.

Her air-intakes glitched as a set of hands roved over her chassis. Scavengers.

"Whoever you are, get away from me." She ordered. Her voice was startlingly soft and raspy.

She heard a rumble of complaint as the hands ranged up to her head. She tried to struggle but the tingles in her limbs turned severely painful and other than the pain her body refused to move. Slowly her optics came on-line. Her vision was blurry for a moment as she recalibrated the lenses. A large purple head with one optic looked down at her.

"Shockwave." She croaked in semi-relief. "Where am I?"

"In my lab. You were damaged in your last battle."

"Why can't I move?"

"I placed several neural inhibitors along your spinal column."

"Why would you do that?" Firefly demanded. She was paralyzed, unable to move an inch. The inhibitors blocked any sort of electrical command from her cerebral processor, rendering her terrifyingly defenseless and at the mercy of Shockwave.

"It was necessary to complete your repairs. The neural inhibitors allowed me to get passed all the traps you had installed."

"If you are finished, then remove them and release me."

The purple head nodded once started disengaging the paralyzing agents. When he was finished and she was able to move again, Firefly ripped the last of the monitoring leads off her body and jumped from the table. She prowled around the room, exercising her hydraulics and readjusting to the sensations of movement. Shockwave kept out of her way.

She strode to a window and gazed out over the city. Decaying spires reached for the red-streaked sky, dark streets that hid any number of evilness spread beneath them. Several areas of the fortress were under construction. She knew this place, she had once been a proud citizen in its dark heart. "Helex." Firefly turned to Shockwave. "Where's Megatron?"

"Gone. He left in search of a new energy source."

"How long ago?"

"Three thousand vorn." Shockwave answered.

Firefly gaped. "Three thousand vorn? Who did he take with him?"

"Most of the Decepticons." He replied vaguely.

"Who did he take in my place?" She demanded fiercely.

Shockwave hesitated. "Starscream."

Firefly bit back her cry of outrage. She could just imagine the look on the Seekers face when Megatron chose him. She could almost imagine that it was Starscream who pulled the trigger that day with Sideswipe. She vented her anger on some very breakable looking instruments lying on a table. Shockwave quickly stepped in and rescued the most valuable of his tools. When she had calmed down slightly she refocused on Shockwave.

"Did any of my officers join him?"

The purple mech looked up from locking his prized pieces away. "No. Some chose to stay, the others were discharged."

"Where are they now?"

"Anywhere they could find a posting, it's not my job to keep track of wayward soldiers."

Firefly shoved Shockwave up against the bench and grasped the exposed wires in his neck. She leaned close. "Where are they?"

The mech squirmed but Firefly kept her grip. "As far as I know they went separate ways. Only one I know about is Barricade. He was dismissed from the Decepticon army altogether. You'll have to figure out what happened to the others on your own."

"Dismissed? Why?"

"He was a traitor."

Firefly yanked on the pipe, Shockwave tensed. "Never. Where is he?"

"Release me and I'll help you find him."

Firefly glared at him for a moment before letting go of his neck and moving back. Shockwave checked his neck and faced her; with a gesture he motioned her out of the room. Taking the lead Firefly headed for the control room. From there she should be able to call up any information she wanted, that is if it hadn't already been sent to the archives.

"How long ago did he leave?"

"Just after you were shipped here for repairs."

Firefly scowled. If it was that long ago then the details may have already been logged in the archives. "If I cannot locate him I will remove all your hydraulics and make you run a training circuit with Sharkticons chasing you."

The sound of numerous footsteps caught Firefly's attention. Looking over her shoulder at Shockwave she saw that he was now followed by several heavily armed guards, the looks on their faces told her everything. Turning completely she planted her hands on her hips.

"You couldn't take care of me yourself so you had to call in back up? You're pathetic Shockwave."

The blocky head jerked and the mechs rushed forward. Firefly knew she was at a disadvantage; they had electro-shock staffs and she only had her hands, there were five of them and only one of her. She tried to keep them all in front of her, but they weren't cooperating.

Facing all five stocky mechs Firefly decided that she'd faced tougher odds. Like that time outside Simfur when her force was surrounded by Autobots. But unlike that time she had no one watching her back and no weapons whatsoever.

The five mechs stood around her posturing, trying to make her attack first and reveal a weakness in her defenses. She wouldn't disappoint them, except that she had no weaknesses.

Darting forward she slammed her fist into one of the mech's heads, cracking an optic and denting his face plates. He staggered and fell against the wall. Swinging around, she dodged a blow from another and dropped into a crouch, taking her attackers legs out with a swift kick. The air near her head crackled as a shock-staff past next to her audios. Jerking her head to the side she shoved her elbow backwards to collide with the mechs chest. Spinning on her toes she slammed the heel of her palm into his face.

A sharp electric currant ran up her back, severing all connection between her circuits and rendering her immobile. She wavered on her feet before toppling to the side. Large hands caught her roughly, wrenched her into a standing position and spun with her.

Shockwave now stood infront of her, even without a face he managed to give off a very satisfied appearance. Just infront of him was a grey and blue armored mech holding a sparking shock-staff, his grin was predatory.

"That wasn't very clever Firefly." Shockwave said. He looked at the grey mech. "Good work Axer. Now take her to her quarters."

The mech nodded and stalked past her. The one holding her shook her forcefully before following. She heard Shockwave's voice call out as she got further away.

"Don't worry, Commander; the paralysis won't last too long. When it rubs off maybe you will be open to reason."

* * *

Firefly paced her prison angrily. She should have known better than to trust Shockwave to honor his word. Picking up a decoration, she hurled it against the door wishing it was the purple head instead.

The shards tinkled to the floor as the main entry slid open. Shockwave entered followed by Axer and two others. Firefly glared at them as they approached but stood her ground. She wouldn't bow to anyone. Shockwave must have read the rebellion in her face.

"I see you are not yet ready to follow my orders."

"I only follow Megatron's orders."

"Lord Megatron made me Guardian of Cybertron. My orders are his orders."

"In that case, I still reject your leadership."

Firefly detected Shockwave's irritation despite his lack of a face, behind him Axer scowled.

"I see you still need to learn respect for his lordship's wishes."

"On the contrary, I have great respect for Lord Megatron's wishes. I just don't care for yours."

A growl emerged from Axer's vocalizer. Shockwave silenced him with a wave of his hand. "If you persist in defying me I will have no choice but to return you to how I found you."

Firefly glared hatefully at the purple cyclops. She had received approximately 65,264,514 death threats, on and off the battlefield, from Autobots and Decepticons. But Shockwave's was one she would take seriously, he didn't make idle threats.

"What do you want from me?" She growled.

The triumph she couldn't see on Shockwave was clearly shown on Axer's face and that of his flunkies. Firefly tamped down her growing rage to listen.

"I'm glad you finally see sense. It would be a pity to waste your potential." His voice was dripping with superiority. "As one of Lord Megatron's highest ranking officers before your off-lining you have the experience to lead the soldiers he left behind. Thus you will stand as leader until Megatron's return and rid Cybertron of its Autobot infestation.

"Optimus Prime didn't take all of his Autobots with him? Who was left behind?" Something tingled in Firefly's spark, she squashed it.

Shockwave shrugged. "Basic resistance forces, small pockets of rebels and I believe a squad of female Autobots."

Immediately Firefly's suppressed anger joined with her age old grudge, turning her optics into flaming crimson lenses. One of the guards stepped back slightly. Satisfaction rolled off Shockwave in waves.

"I can provide you with information on where to find the rebels, but only if you agree to my terms."

Firefly was silent. If she agreed there was potentially no limit to what Shockwave could demand from her, it was well known that she wanted to destroy Elita-1 and her team of femmes and would do just about anything to achieve that goal. Could she afford to let a chance like this slip through her fingers, even if it did mean working with Shockwave?

"What are your terms?"

She saw the triumph in the purple frame even though his voice was kept meticulously even. "I will choose and direct your missions. Each endeavor will be complete with the aid of mechs chosen by me. You will report to me after every mission. While on base you will not leave your quarters unless I have summoned you."

Firefly regarded him seriously across the room. "So you will control every decision while I'm out hunting and you are my jailer while I'm here."

"That's a very negative way to look at it but yes. You will answer to me for everything."

"Hmm, what about the left over Decepticons? What am I to do with them?"

"You will train and treat them the way you did before Lord Megatron left."

"Why do you need me? You obviously have control of the planet."

Embarrassment and frustration filled Shockwave's posture even as he tried to hide it. "They are resistant."

"You mean, they don't like you. They won't fight for a mech who has only minimal field experience."

Firefly straightened and laughed. Shockwave's predicament lifted her spirits. She now had something to bargain with.

"New plan; I'll go back to my training and lead the Decepticons in Megatron's name. I will even report to you, and consider any projects you want me to assist you with."

"I don't think so. My terms are the only ones that you will be living by."

"How about, I agree and you let me go."

"No. You agree and I won't kill you."

Firefly pursed her lips. This may just be tougher than she thought. He wouldn't really kill her, but he could make her existence as horrifying as the Pit was expected to be.

"Give me your answer Firefly." Shockwave demanded.

"Can I think about it?"

"What is there to think about? You either work for me or you die." He was getting frustrated.

"That gives me very little room for choice…fine, I'll join you but you had better make it worthwhile."

"Worthwhile? Surely your life is worth keeping."

"Only sometimes." Firefly muttered quietly, then said louder. "What now?"

"Now, you wait here until I need you."

Firefly saluted him mockingly and turned her back on the group.

* * *

**What did you think, please review and let me know.**

**TammyCat**


	3. Barricade

Firefly paced her room, calculating every possible opportunity that she might be able to take. Even without her compliance Shockwave controlled Cybertron, what she needed now was a way to get out of there. She prowled the length of her room trying to find a weakness she could exploit. There was nothing. She cursed Shockwave roundly for putting her in this position.

The door beeped in warning before sliding open noiselessly. Firefly tensed and waited for whoever was there to enter. She wouldn't put it past Shockwave to destroy her even though she was now in his pocket.

"Stop hiding like a sparkling and get in here."

A large figure appeared in the doorway.

"Who are you and what do you want?" Firefly asked lazily as she eyed the mech. He was younger than her, or at least hadn't seen as many battles as she had. He still had a spirited look to his red optics.

"Lord Shockwave sent me to get you."

"Received a summons have I?" She laughed throatily. "That mech has no idea of what he's gotten into with me."

The unknown mech still stood by the door, shifting on his feet every few moments. He was nervous.

"What's wrong kid? You still haven't told me who you are."

"Trip-wire, sir."

Firefly watched the mech for a moment. His blue armor shone from a recent polishing, very different from Shockwave's other roughed up guards. Firefly suppressed her smile. Had he cleaned up to meet her? She might be able to turn that into an opportunity.

"Alright then Trip-wire, let's see what that waste of parts wants."

She strolled casually towards him. He tensed and waited for her to precede him out of the room. They were part-way down the corridor when she said.

"Don't walk behind me, kid, unless you're going to deactivate me. Come here." She waved her hand next to her. The mech moved forward, Firefly didn't move until he was walking beside her.

As they walked slowly through the dark corridors, Firefly's curiosity grew. "So, what is a young mech like yourself doing working for Shockwave, surely there are more interesting things you'd rather be doing?"

Trip-wire looked at her nervously, his hand clutched at the blaster he carried. "I want to be an officer. "

"And you think Shockwave will help you become one." Firefly stopped, Trip-wire stumbled and spun. Firefly studied his face closely. He had a strange innocence around him that she couldn't help but feel sorry for him and his naiveté. Back when she was in command they had sent mechs like this back to their homes or pointed them in the direction of the Autobots. Untainted mechs like this weren't meant to see the battlefield. She hated watching that innocent light fade from their optics, either from harsh experience or because their sparks had just been extinguished. She wasn't a complete monster.

"Look, kid, Shockwave isn't going to do anything but use you and throw you away. Once you've played your part in whatever plan he has, you will find yourself looking down the business end of Axer's gun."

"Lord Shockwave promised–"

Firefly cut off whatever idealistic crap the young mech had been about to spout. "He may have told you that but he's a veteran Decepticon. He is as adept at lying as he is at killing. He told me he'd help me find my team and then locked me up until I agreed to help him. Now you seem like a nice sort of mech so I'll tell you this once, and only once, never trust any promises made by anyone who doesn't fight beside their troops. They don't understand the meaning of loyalty or courage. Find yourself a couple of mechs who you would trust with your life and make sure they would trust you with theirs, only then will you be safe from the evils in this world."

Trip-wire looked at her stunned, his mouth hung open and his optics were wide. Firefly decided that while she had his attention it would be a good time to try and escape.

"If you get me out of here, I'll count you as one of my team. Have you ever heard of my team, or was that before your activation?"

Trip-wire threw back his shoulders, trying to look important. "The King tells stories of your exploits during the Great War, before Lord Megatron left in pursuit of the Autobots. Being a part of your team was a highly enviable position."

Firefly smiled and darted at look around them. Shockwave would notice if they didn't arrive soon. She grabbed Trip-wire's arm and started walking again.

"I would like to invite you to join my team, but only if you prove that you can be loyal to me and only me."

Trip-wire's mouth moved several time before any sound came out. "I would be honored Lord Firefly, how can I prove myself to you?"

"Help me escape from here and I'll ensure your safety."

Trip-wire beamed. "The King always said you were honorable."

Firefly looked askance at him. "Who is this 'King'?"

"He's the leader of one of the elite street racing gangs in the lower levels; they aim to give Shockwave as much trouble as they can."

Firefly processed this new tidbit of information. If this King was singing her praises, she might be able to get him to help her regain power once she escaped. She would promise him a place in her elite guard, if he truly believed in her he would be very loyal.

Trip-wire's voice rang with mounting excitement. "Once I get you out I'll try and get you to King Cade, he should be able to help as well. I'll start on a plan as soon as possible."

Firefly froze. King Cade? Did that mean Barricade or some other mech?

She didn't get a chance to ask the young mech as they had just reached the command center's doors.

Shockwave was sitting in a small throne as they entered, behind him was Axer. Firefly rolled her optics at the pomposity of the situation. Around the room mechs and droid were making a low hum of noise that reminded Firefly of her old administration duties and how she hated them. Trip-wire fell back at the door but Firefly continued until she stood before Shockwave's throne.

"You summoned me?" She bowed mockingly.

"I have your first assignment."

One of the guards stepped forward, holding out a datapad. She took it roughly and read through it.

"You're kidding." She declared angrily. "I'm a leader and highly sought-after trainer, what makes you think I'd even consider doing this?"

Several energy-weapons hummed to life behind her.

"Axer's charming persuasion." Shockwave replied.

"Go scrap yourself. Contact me when you have something worth my time and skills." Firefly turned on her heel and headed back towards the door, ignoring the three mechs with glowing spears.

"One of these targets may have knowledge of Elita-1's location."

Firefly tossed a look over her shoulder, glaring at the cycloptic head. He wasn't going to take no for an answer and he knew exactly what to say to ensure her cooperation. In the back of her processor she cursed her desire to rip the spark from her pink chassis. Shockwave knew of her hatred and was fully prepared to use it. No doubt every time Firefly wanted to refuse the mark would have information concerning the Autobot femme commander.

She snarled. "Have the information sent to my quarters."

Not wanting to see the victory in his faceless mask Firefly quit the room, her guard and potential alley in tow.

* * *

The streets were almost impenetrably dark. The only light came from broken bulbs sparking fitfully above her. Each corner hid a secret or lie. It wasn't much different to the Dead End, just less murder and more energon. A squeak to her left caused Firefly to tense. The threat of whatever unknown lurker hiding in the darkness rode high in her processors. If she didn't find what she needed soon she might not make it back alive, not that she was intending to go back.

The assignment Shockwave had set her had proven to be the ideal platform to launch her escape. She checked her internal chronometer, half a cycle since she'd slipped past the guards at the gate.

Shockwave didn't expect her to return, all her potential effectiveness as a pawn was lost due to her defiance and ability to distract and deactivate any mechs he sent to watch over her. That was why he'd given her such a low-rank mission, this was meant to be her last walk as an active femme. He'd already sent out several squads to make sure she never came back.

The number of patrols looking for her had probably been increased just after her disappearance had been discovered. Bless that young foolish mech. Trip-wire had managed to smuggle her all the information she would need to complete her task as well as all the gossip he'd heard about her executioners. He would be joining her as soon as he could escape unnoticed.

Keeping all sensors alert for her prey or anyone following her Firefly kept searching. Down dark roads and murky alleyways, she hunted. Finally several cycles later she heard the distinctive sound of racers highly-charged engines.

Creeping up on the loud roars she peeked around the corner of a building. Sitting in the middle of a large square was a group of large and menacing mechs gathered around a throne-like chair. Their attention focused on each other and the few vehicles speeding around a make-shift track. Obviously a gang of street racers, and exactly what she was looking for.

Firefly pulled her head back behind the wall. Getting past them would take a different approach to her usual one. Brute force wouldn't impress them, they were built for that, but maybe appealing to their egos would. Training her face into a sultry smile she left the shadows and started towards the group.

As she got closer they started to notice her, heads turned and optics roved over her chassis hungrily. Keeping the flirty look on her face she increased the swing of her hips. When she was close enough to hear them panting she stopped.

"Hello there boys." She purred.

A large dark green mech stepped forward. His optics went up and down her body several times before he spoke.

"What brings a femme like you all the way down here?"

A pretty pout appeared on her lips. "I'm being chased by Enforcers and I was hoping I would be able to find someone big and strong willing to protect me."

A rumble of laughter ran through the group. The green mech's smile grew. "Sure, sweetspark, we can protect you. Where are these nasty Enforcers?"

It was clear by his tone and the way he was leering at her that he didn't believe she was being followed. Swallowing her smile, Firefly half turned and pointed behind her. If her calculations were correct Shockwave's troops would be arriving any time now.

"They were just behind me five breems ago."

"Well then why don't you come sit here and we'll make sure they don't get you." He placed a hand low on her back and ushered her through the mechs to the throne, the group closed in around them until she was surrounded by a veritable wall of living metal. With a small smile Firefly sat and ran a hand over the shining metal of her seat.

A shout from across the square caught their attention. The street racers turned to see Shockwave's Enforcers. The green mech looked back at her, startled, before turning back to the intruders.

"What do you want, Enforcer?" He shouted.

A single mech, Axer, separated himself and walked forward several steps. "The femme. Lord Shockwave wants her to return to Command immediately."

"Shockwave? He wouldn't know what to do with a femme." The green mech replied. The racers around him broke into laughter.

Axer glared. "Release the femme now and you will not be harmed."

The mechs laughed again. Firefly stood up on her throne and threw Axer a triumphant look. His optics narrowed as she made a rude gesture. He couldn't get her now, not with this many defenders between them, and he knew it.

"Resist and you will be punished." Firefly got the feeling he was talking directly to her this time.

When they didn't respond Axer scowled and raised his hand. The Enforcers behind him streamed forward to engage the racers.

Firefly stood above the fighting, keeping her optics on Axer and the green mech. They were fighting just to her right. Luckily for her, there were more racers than Enforcers and they were soon sent packing with more than a few dents and holes in their armor. The racers shouted and yelled in triumph as the last of Shockwave's troops disappeared into the dark.

The green mech returned to Firefly's side and grinned at her. Holding out her hand she allowed him to help her off the throne. She stepped closer to him and smiled slowly.

"That was very brave, you must be very strong. I am in your debt. How could I ever repay you?"

His grin widened as an arm snaked around her waist. "I think we can figure something out." He leaned down and pressed his lips against hers. The mechs around them cheered.

Firefly obliged for a moment before pulling away. "Maybe later. I'm looking for someone as a matter of fact. They're in a street racing gang, like you. Are you the leader of this one?"

The mechs surrounding them laughed, giving Firefly the impression that he wasn't.

Her rescuer silenced the crowd with a glare. "I'm Diesel, second to the King of the Streets."

"What's that?" Was it the same 'King' Trip-wire had spoken of?

Diesel laughed. "You must not be local if you don't know who the King is."

Firefly nodded. "I haven't been here for quite some time."

A yelp and the sound of a scuffle interrupted them. Swinging their heads around, they saw a trio of mechs emerging from the shadows. Diesel left Firefly to meet the two racers, between them they hauled one of Shockwave's Enforcers.

"What did you bring him back for?" Diesel demanded.

"We found him hiding behind that building, spying." One of the racers replied.

Diesel nodded. "Where's Cade?"

A spike of something resembling joy went through her spark; this was King Cade's gang.

"He's following. He told us to get everyone ready to move out quickly. He thinks Shockwave may have found our base…We got a nice haul tonight. That should make up for anything we've lost." The second said eagerly.

"That purple freak has been getting' a lot more nosy recently…All right, pass the word around, as soon as the King gets here we're gone."

Firefly watched the exchange and felt her spirits rise. Barricade was close. Around her, engines revved as they awaited the arrival of their leader.

Soon the throaty roar of a mighty engine filled the quiet night, drowning out the soft revs of the mechs around Firefly. Delight flowed through her as she recognized that sound. She shook in anticipation of seeing her old friend again. Diesel had been watching her and had mistaken her reaction for fear; he approached her and rested a hand on her shoulder.

"The King won't harm you. If he seems a bit hard, that's just him."

Firefly nodded, taking the unnecessary advice. Barricade had always been a hard mech, but she'd always brought out his softer side. Preparing herself for their reunion she sat back down on the throne and crossed one leg over the other. The racers around her were so tall she couldn't see anything but the ground beneath their feet and the tortured sky above.

A steady purr of engines filled the square, the King had returned. Many of the mechs blocking her view shifted on their feet. Restrained excitement covered each face.

_Something big has happened to__night_. Firefly mused.

Diesel stood infront of her as the mechs around them parted. "So you finally return King. Was everything successful?"

There was a brief pause. "Why do you question me as though I was a mere droid and you were the king? Get out of my way." The sound of Barricade's rough voice made Firefly smile.

There was some whispering and Barricade laughed. "Are you trying to impress the femme you've got hidden behind you or protect her from me? You know what I've always said about femme's, Diesel, they're more trouble than they're worth."

One of Firefly's brows rose at the remark. She stood and moved Diesel aside with a hand on his shoulder. "Is that right, Barricade? What made you so cynical?"

She watched as shock filled the black mech's face. His mouth opened and closed without a sound emerging.

"Well?"

"You're alive!" He gasped.

"Very well spotted, my friend." She smiled.

Barricade pushed Diesel to the side and moved closer to Firefly. With wide optics he seemed to absorb her into him. Firefly lifted a hand and traced it lightly down his cheek.

"It's good to see you again 'Cade."

"You know her, Boss?" Diesel asked.

Barricade turned to the gang, they stared back avidly. Several still eyed her chassis with anticipation, the King always shared. His scowl was dark.

"This femme is not to be touched. Anyone who violates that order will be thrown from the towers of Darkmount and into the Smelting Pools. Understood?"

All heads nodded and the mechs around Diesel took a large step back.

Barricade eyed him dangerously. "Is there something you want to tell me, Diesel?"

"Not really. I'm good."

Barricade growled. Firefly placed a hand on his arm. "Don't bite his head off, Barricade. He'll make a good soldier with some training."

"Soldier? I ain't no soldier. Who the hell do you think you are?" Diesel demanded, outraged.

Firefly drew upon all her years as one of Megatron's best officers and pulled the aura of command around her. "I am Firefly, Lord of Darkmount."

There was something in the way they reacted that made Firefly feel that much more powerful. It could have been the gasps or the widening optics as they recognized her name. But Firefly guessed that it was more likely the fact that many now look terrified.

"I thought you were dead."

Firefly faced Barricade. "I almost was. Shockwave wasn't very interested in keeping me alive after I refused his oh-so kind offer to stand as Cybertron's ruler in Megatron's absence."

"With him as your right hand mech." 'Cade concluded.

"Exactly. When I told him only one would ever stand at my side he decided that I was not worth the time and effort he put into bringing me back online." She looked around at the eagerly listening mechs. "Maybe we could talk more somewhere else."

Barricade followed her gaze and nodded. "All right, gentlemechs, time to move. Siler take a team to retrieve the goods and meet us back at base."

The mech in question nodded, selected his team and departed. Barricade reached for Firefly. "The quicker we get out of here the less likely Shockwave will find us."

"What about this one Boss?"

Firefly and Barricade looked down to see the two racers holding the Enforcer between them. Before Barricade could reply, Firefly stepped forward. Terror filled the Enforcer's face as she got closer. She didn't stop until she was mere inches from his face.

"You're going to give Shockwave a message for me, understand?"

The captive's head nodded quickly.

"Good." She placed her hands on his broad chest. "You're going to tell him that Firefly doesn't bow to anyone." The mech gasped as her sharp fingertips dug into the plating. She continued to speak only loud enough for him to hear. "You will tell him that as of immediately I will take back my throne at Darkmount and if he wishes to have any cooperation from me he will have to _beg_ for it."

The Enforcer cried out as with each word she uttered quietly, her fingers cut through his armor. Firefly retrieved her hands and stepped back and studied her handiwork.

"Let him go. Point him in the right direction and send him back to Shockwave."

The racers looked to Barricade for confirmation but jumped when she placed energon covered fingers under their chin and made them look back at her.

"Did you not hear me?" Her voice carried a definite threat. "I said let him go."

The mechs nodded and stepped back from their prisoner. The Enforcer stumbled and tripped backwards, he landed with a crash. All around him stared at the mess that was his chassis. Deep grooves that dripped energon had been carved into his armor. Underneath the familiar symbol were a series of marks. Confusion covered several faces as they tried and failed to decipher the writing.

Firefly returned to Barricade. An amused smiled lifted his lips as he looked passed her and read the inscription.

"Overdoing it a little aren't you?"

Firefly shrugged one shoulder and watched as the Enforcer clambered to his feet and fled. "I have to make my name known again."

"It was never forgotten."

"Neither has Thunderwing's, but most think he's just a legend."

Barricade shook his head. "Although you are no doubt the basis of many legends, you were not in danger of becoming one."

"Hmm, that's good. Barricade, we must leave before that walking scrap-heap reaches Shockwave."

He nodded and signaled his gang, the familiar sound of gears and hydraulics filled the air and Firefly relaxed. With little thought Firefly flexed her shoulders, her wings flared out.

"I'm surprised Shockwave let you keep them" Barricade asked.

"Me too. Although I do need to find a medic who can repair them properly, they're fairly unstable at the moment."

"Don't use them if you can't trust them to function properly."

"And let Shockwave win? I don't think so. I want him to see me flying victorious over his precious city."

Barricade just grinned and shook his head. With unusual chivalry Barricade waited for her to change before he transformed. Firefly blasted into the air, the soft currents she enjoyed so much flowed over her chassis, freeing her from all of the land-bound troubles. The convoy of powerful engines was surprisingly quiet below her as they made they way through the dark streets. Firefly was thankful that they didn't call attention to themselves, despite her behavior, she wasn't at full strength and didn't want to get into another fight tonight.

_#Where is your lair Barricade?#_ She asked curiously over a tight comm-link.

_#Along the city's outer edge, it's far from any other gang's territory. Not many street gangs make base where they can't race.#_

Firefly smiled mentally and swooped low to pat the dark vehicles' roof with her wing.

_#Do not treat me like one of your pets.#_

She laughed and surged back into the sky. She dipped and glided playing with the heavy clouds, the electric storm threatened to take her down with its power but she managed to remain in the open long enough to be sure at least one of Shockwave's monitors had picked her up. Giving up her teasing, Firefly returned to Barricade's side.

She stayed below the building line as they approached Barricade's hideout. She landed lightly amongst the still revving mechs. Faces and voices, light with success, filled the small area. Barricade quickly led them into a dingy-looking building. Firefly stood outside and stared up at the dilapidated structure. It didn't look like it would sufficiently house glitch-mice, let alone the boisterous racing gang.

Firefly looked to her left as she felt a presence. "He actually keeps you here?"

Diesel nodded and grinned. "It's better on the inside."

"It had better be, or I'm going back to Shockwave."

Firefly followed Diesel through the door and down a long corridor. She tried to keep all parts of her away from the walls; they looked as though one touch would crumble them or infect her with some horrendous rust disease. She was about to voice her opinion on her increasingly horrific surroundings when Diesel led her into room at the end of the corridor.

The inside was astoundingly better than the outside. The walls, even without new paneling, gleamed as through freshly buffed. Bright lights cast a created warm glow over the long hall. It looked welcoming and totally at odds with its outside appearance.

Barricade stood on a raised dias at the end of the hall. The mechs around her raised the noise level to astounding proportions with their companionable banter. Firefly noticed that only a few carried the Decepticon symbol, the rest only bore Barricade's mark. Not all of these mechs had seen the war.

Beside her Diesel tensed for a moment, he touched her arm.

"Come on, the King summons you."

Firefly threw Barricade a defiant look. "No one summons me."

_#__Then he requests that you join him.#_ Barricade's rough voice buzzed through her comm.

"That's better." She grinned.

Sauntering through the hall-full of mechs she savored the feeling of once again being part of something so much bigger than herself yet knowing that at any instance she could have complete control over its immense force. She climbed to the podium.

"Welcome back Firefly."

"It's good to be back, my friend. You have quite the kingdom here don't you?"

"It's all yours."

Firefly slanted him a look. "No, it's yours. But you are mine so it's evened out."

Barricade laughed, drawing a few startled glances from his racers. He noticed their attention and drew Firefly towards a nearby door. He led her up to his office overlooking the hall.

She moved to the glass. "Nice view."

"It has its uses." Barricade passed her a fluorescent cube. "What do you intend to do now? Shockwave knows your plans, he will try to stop you."

"Let him try. I am more than a match for him and his pitiful Enforcers."

She felt more than saw Barricade's optics on her. "Not in your condition, you're not. You're too weak to do more than stand and walk."

Firefly shrugged one shoulder. "Shockwave had me on diluted energon for the past three orns, trying to keep me under his control, what would you expect?"

"You've been online for three orns?"

"Yep." She noticed his thoughtful expression. "What?"

The look deepened. "The patrols through the lower sectors had increased over the last few orns. I thought that maybe Shockwave had found out about our operation tonight, but now I think it was because of you."

"He must have known that I'd come looking for you and tried to get rid of you once and for all."

"How did you even know where to find me?" Barricade asked suddenly

Firefly smiled. "One of my guards used to live in this area. He told me about a _'Cade'_ so I took a chance that it was you. He told me that _'Cade'_ was the leader of a racing gang. It was with his help that I escaped."

"Who is he?"

"Trip-wire."

A frown drew his brow plates together. "Why does that name sound familiar?"

Firefly shrugged and gazed out over the sea of mechs. Each one had the potential to be excellent soldiers; a percentage would even make admirable assassins and killers. And each one would be under her command, her control. The flow of excitement that usually followed such a thought was curiously missing. Dismissing that peculiarity, Firefly turned her attention to Barricade.

"How soon can they be ready to travel? I want to get to Darkmount before Shockwave tries to close it off."

"You think he would?" He passed her an energon cube.

She nodded. "Of course. Helex and Ployhex are our best military strongholds. If he can stop me from gaining control over Darkmount, he'll continue to control all of Cybertron without opposition."

A commotion at the entrance drew their attention. A small group of mechs waded through the mass towards the front. Barricade moved closer to the glass and watched as the team of three threw something onto the floor infront of the dias.

There was a sharp knock on the door before Diesel appeared. "My lord, we've captured a spy."

"Bring him here." Barricade replied.

"Whom do you think 'my lord' referred to, you or me?" Firefly asked amused.

He grinned. "Me, for the moment anyway."

Firefly inclined her head and sank into a chair. Barricade was right, she was terribly weak. It surprised her that she had made it as far as she had without off-lining.

Diesel walked back into the room with two other mechs following him. Between them, they dragged the spy. No really caring about Barricade's domestic problems, Firefly went back to savouring the taste of the energon in her hand. The sound of one of Barricade's fists slamming into metal echoed around the office.

"What's your name? Who do you work for?"

"Trip-wire." The mech groaned.

Firefly's head snapped around. She rose and walked around the desk. Sure enough, Trip-wire knelt in front of Barricade nursing dented faceplates. "Leave him be."

"Lord Firefly?" Diesel's arm posed to strike next.

"Let him go. He's my mech."

Trip-wire's relieved and hopeful optics turned to her. Firefly rolled her optics and motioned for the guards to lift him to his feet.

He hurried to her side. "I'm glad you found the King."

"As am I."

He looked back at the street racers. "What now, my lord?"

A dark grin spread across Firefly's face. "Now, we conquer Cybertron."

* * *

**Please review. Hopefully I will get better.**

**TammyCat**


	4. The Beginning

**The start of Firefly's backstory. Set _long _before the first chapter.**

* * *

"Why am I going?"

"Because there's no one else."

Usually that would amuse Sideswipe, but tonight he didn't care. "What about the new kid?"

"Bumblebee is still in training."

"How about Jazz?"

"He's training Bumblebee." Ratchet commented from behind him.

"Mirage?"

A frustrated look past over Prowl's face. "We can't find him."

Damn slagger. "What about Sunny?"

Prowl just stared at him. "I would prefer to keep all of my limbs."

Sideswipe smiled at the image his mind conjured of Sunstreaker chasing Prowl and Ratchet around the base.

"So how do I look? Do I look like a Decepticon?"

Prowl and Ratchet moved away to allow Sideswipe to look in the mirror.

Extra armor plating had been added to his chassis to both change his appearance and decrease the likelihood of receiving a fatal injury if he got caught. The aspect of the mission that would have sent Sunstreaker running was the new paint-job. Sideswipe was now a shiny deep blue. The purple Decepticon insignia glared distinctly on a pale blue stripe that ran from his neck to his elbow. Two more similar stripes ran down his back. Red optics stared back at him.  
"I want to kick my own aft."

Prowl and Ratchet smiled at the success of their makeover.

"How do I get outta here?"

"Like any other Decepticon found in Autobot territory." Ratchet replied.

Prowl smiled. "Retreat."

* * *

Firefly tried valiantly to control the rising level of panic she felt as even more mechanoids entered the large hall. So far Firefly had seen only mechs walk through those double doors and had begun to suspect that maybe she was the only femme interested in joining the Decepticons.

Firefly carefully made her way through the crowd towards the raised dais. If she could avoid bumping into any of the battle-hungry recruits around her she might just survive long enough to sign her name.

Firefly stopped four rows from the podium. Any closer and she might get noticed.

The mech infront of Firefly suddenly stepped back, hitting Firefly and causing her to fall back into several other mechs. She tried to hide her fear as they glowered at her.

"S-s-sorry." Firefly quickly moved away from them and bumped into the back of another large dark mech. The mech turned, if Firefly had been able to she would have gulped. The machine was at least four feet taller than her with armor as dark as night.

Finding her voice Firefly stammered a frightened apology.

The dark robot stared at her inquisitively. "Stop apologizing, you'll get ripped to pieces."

"W-why?"

"You're showing fear and fear is considered a weakness." He looked at her closely. "What is a femme doing at a Decepticon rally?"

"Why? Aren't they allowed?" She cast a nervous glance around her.

The mech smirked. "They are, but most join the Autobots."

Firefly's anxiety died under the assertion of her relative safety and her budding hatred of the Autobots. "I'm not like most femmes." She glared into his red optics.

The dark face turned thoughtful. "Hmm. My name's Barricade and if you want to survive in these ranks you'd better curb your timidity and sharpen your claws."

Firefly straightened her back. "Thanks for the advice. I'm Firefly. What's happens at one of these?"

"It's a recruitment rally. Some high-level officer gets up there and makes a speech about how glorious the Decepticon army is. At the same time he belittles the Autobots and ridicules anyone associated with them. At the end he'll ask them to sign up."

Firefly watched her new acquaintance curiously. "You sound like you've been through this before."

Barricade smirked. "I have. This is my fifth meeting, excluding my own enlistment."

"You're a Decepticon?"

"Yep. I'm working security."

"Is there a chance something will happen?"

"Always. These are Decepticons."

"Is there any way for me to sign up right now? I don't need to be convinced."

Firefly fidgeted under the probing scrutiny of Barricade's gaze. He stared at her for several moments before grabbing her arm and pulling her through the crowd towards the back of the hall. Panic welled in Firefly as she was led through a set of side doors and into a dark hallway.

"At the end of the corridor is a room. Go in there and tell them I sent you. Then wait for me to come back. Don't sign anything."

Firefly nodded. Barricade must have seen what he wanted in her expression because he nodded jerkily before disappearing back into the hall.

* * *

Barricade marched through the crowd wondering why the little red femme had affected him so much. Maybe it was the way her optics blazed when he had mentioned the Autobots, or the way she didn't hide from his gaze. Either way she had the potential to rise through the Decepticon ranks and become a force to be reckoned with.

Glancing out over the massing transformers he spied the rest of the security detail working their way through the room. They would soon have spoken to the majority thus cementing a significant increase in Decepticon numbers. Pleased that the meeting was going well Barricade leaned against a wall and watched the crowd, as soon as Thundercracker started speaking he would check on the femme. It would be unwise to let anyone take advantage of her naivety.

* * *

Sideswipe gazed out over the sea of mechs. With this many transformers hungry for power and glory, it was no wonder that the Decepticons had greater numbers. If only this many would join the Autobot forces, then there might be a possibility of ending the war.

Bringing his thoughts under control, Sideswipe saw that someone now occupied the small stage at the end of the hall. Thundercracker. Which meant that Skywarp was somewhere nearby, and wherever those two were Starscream or Soundwave were as well.

Sideswipe prayed desperately to Primus that it was Starscream behind the scenes and not Soundwave. The Decepticon Communications Officer sent chills through Sideswipe's chassis.

Well there was only one way to find out who was running the show, and that was to get back there himself.

Sideswipe had been at the rally since the doors had opened. Upon arrival he had quickly scouted the outside of the building. He had only approached the doors after a small army's worth of mechs had entered. It would be easier to lose himself in a crowd if he was found out.

After entering the building he had noted all available exits. There were two; the front door where all potential recruits entered and a set of double doors to the side. So far Sideswipe had seen only a handful of Decepticons pass through those doors, solidifying his theory that the main action was there. Actually there were three exits but he had left his jet pack behind, making the sky-light inaccessible.

The crowd was still milling, they hadn't noticed Thundercracker yet. Sides took the opportunity and headed for the side doors. If he was right he would be able to get lots of valuable information from whoever was behind this.

The doors were surprisingly easy to get through, no one was guarding them and there weren't any security devices.

_Too easy_, Sides thought to himself as he slipped unobtrusively from the hall. The corridor was dark but a quick scan showed him he wasn't alone. Sideswipe tensed as a voice called to him.

"Hello? Barricade?"

Confusion ran through Sideswipe's processors. Was that a femme's voice? It couldn't be, all the femmes had joined the Autobots shortly after the war began. But still the voice was too soft to be a mech's.

"What are you doing here?" He tried to sound arrogant.

"I'm waiting for Barricade. Do you know where he is?"

Who was Barricade?

"Yeah. Out there." Sides didn't know who Barricade was but she was obviously looking for him. She stepped closer and he could see her face faintly. Her optics glowed a soft red.

"Have you been in battle?"

"Yep." Sideswipe replied casually.

"Is it as glorious as they say?"

The innocently hopeful look on her face tore Sideswipe's spark out. There was no way he would be able to censor his answer.

"No, it's harsh and it's painful. The only glory found is by leaders and at the expense of lives. There is no glory in killing a stranger or watching as your friends get blown apart beside you."

A sharp slam caused Sideswipe to turn away from the stunned femme. Something was coming towards them through the shadows. A hasty scan made the fuel in Sides' pipes run cold. It was Soundwave.

* * *

Firefly stared at the dark blue mech who had come across her in the hallway. his words were so strong and sincere. His crimson optics stared into hers.

"Is there a way out of here?"

Firefly, still stunned by his forcefulness, pointed to the opposite end of the corridor. She had scouted the building earlier in case she had needed a quick escape.

"Thanks, sparky." The blue mech flashed her a smile and took off.

Clunking footsteps brought Firefly back to reality. A blocky, dark navy mech stopped infront of her. Firefly clutched at her head as a sharp pain sliced through her neural matrix.

"Knowledge insufficient." The navy Decepticon turned from her. "Ravage: Eject." A hand moved to its shoulder and a cassette leapt from its chest. "Mission: Termination"

The transformed cassette snarled and charged through the exit after the other mech. Soundwave entered the crowded hall.

Confusion spread through Firefly's circuits. What just happened? As curiosity overcame confusion, Firefly moved towards the door and stuck her head through it. The navy mech mounted the small stage, a high screech blasted across the room. Within moments the room had settled.

"Autobot detected within compound." Soundwave droned.

The reaction was immediate and astounding. Roars deafened Firefly and she pulled her head back through the door. Autobot? The mech who had spoken so forcefully and stared straight through to her spark was an Autobot?

Anger, and surprisingly betrayal, flooded through Firefly's circuits. How dare an Autobot come to a Decepticon rally. What did he want? Firefly curbed her rage for a moment to peek through the doors again. The crowd was still on the verge of rioting but now their violence had a target. On the wall behind the stage was an image, a red armored mech with shoulder cannon and a silver face. It was the same face that had appeared in the dark hallway.

The navy mech was speaking to a light blue seeker. The seeker turned and addressed the hall.

"The Autobot is escaping. The mech who brings back his head will be rewarded."

A cheer rose through the hall as the glory-seekers went in search of their fleeing adversary

Firefly pulled her head back behind the doors. She should not have given in to her curiosity; she should have followed Barricade's order and gone directly to the end room, instead of waiting here like a scared sparkling.

Shaking off her self-anger Firefly moved away from the doors and, with one last look at the exit the Autobot had taken, hurried to the room at the end of the corridor.

* * *

**I'll probably post more of her story later. If your interested that is. Please leave a review. I appreciate your thoughts.**

**TammyCat**


	5. Darkmount

**Thank you to everyone who is interested in reading this. Please review at the end if you would like this to continue though.**

* * *

Firefly gazed fondly at the city infront of her. Truly, it was more than a city. It was a shelter for Decepticons who had survived through their glory years, a haven for every two-bit scam-artist and criminal, a living hell as well as a paradise.

For Firefly it was home, from the Smelting Pools deep under the city, to the spires of Darkmount and everything dark and decaying in between. She loved Polyhex as much as a Decepticon could love anything.

She pulled the tainted air into her body and felt its tortured soul soothe her. Her optics roamed over every visible inch of the city.

"Welcome home, Firefly." Barricade said softly.

A smile lifted her lips and she listened to the faint screams and explosions coming from the Dead End.

"And it feels so good." She looked up at Barricade and saw the same affection she felt for the city in his optics. "Let's go see how much it's missed us." Firefly raised her voice to carry out to the mechs behind her. "Forward! Take back what is mine."

The gang streamed forward towards the open gates to the city. Firefly and Barricade followed behind at a more sedate pace, they were enjoying returning to the only place they had ever called home.

The fortress wrapped around them like a tormented yet welcoming blanket. Darkness clung to every nook and cranny of each building they passed, but Firefly kept her optics on the dark citadel rising from the centre. At every street corner stood one of Barricade's mechs waiting for them, as the pair walked through the city the gang swarmed around them defensively. Eventually the main road led Firefly to her destination, Darkmount.

The steep road leading to its entry was empty and the double doors were open, the windows and balconies were deserted. It looked broken and lifeless, Firefly's spark ached.

She marched up the slope quickly, desperate to reclaim her home and return it to its former glory. Diesel appeared in the doorway, his face unreadable as another mech joined him. This one had handsome black and bronze armor; he sported badly damaged rotors, defining him as an aerial-mech, and a limp, his expression turned blank as Firefly approached.

"Commander Firefly. Your presence is a surprise."

"I'm sure it is. You look horrible Tracer."

His mouth curled on one side in a smile. "Thanks to your henchmen. They were quite determined to relieve me of my command."

Firefly laughed. "They are…enthusiastic."

"Enthusiastic? That wasn't amongst the words going through my processor while they twisted my rotors."

"That's understandable. My apologies, they're new to this business."

"I figured that out. Where did you find them?"

"Helex. They're Barricade's street racers."

Tracer half-grinned. "Why aren't I surprised that he turned to crime when there was no one to watch him."

Firefly smiled, Barricade grunted.

"Why are you here?" He asked gruffly.

Tracer shrugged. "Shockwave decided that I should be here. I manage Darkmount in his absence."

Firefly's optics roved over him assessingly. It was a smart move on Shockwave's part. Tracer wasn't an ambitious mech despite his abilities, and because of his attitude he wouldn't push to take control.

Firefly dropped a hand into his shoulder. "I'm back now, so Shockwave no longer has any authority here."

"That is good to know. You'll be making changes?" It was less of a question than an expectation.

"Yes." She replied slowly. Something in his voice made her wonder about what had been happening in her city. "In fact, I will be starting immediately. Every program and scheme Shockwave had going is to cease.

Tracer nodded and issued her orders to the mechs corralled by Firefly's rag-tag soldiers. At Firefly's nod the racers parted to let the mechs leave.

"Show me what he's done with my palace." Firefly commanded.

Tracer nodded and led them through the fortress. Physically Darkmount was the same as when she had last been there, but the citadel now had an entirely different feel. A tenseness filled the air, an anticipation of death.

Firefly's spark ached as she saw that many of the rooms that had once held pieces of fine art and other stolen treasures now stood dark and empty, their contents sold to further the Decepticon cause.

Her sadness turned to anger as she saw the deterioration of her great fortress. Outside it was intact but the integrity of its interior was sadly weakened. It was on the verge of collapse.

Her temper darkened further as she stood on a tower balcony and gazed down. An entire section of the Dead End was no more than a blackened crater.

She turned and snarled. "What happened to the Dead End?"

"Shockwave decided to use it as a testing ground for experimental explosives." Tracer replied.

Rage burned in Firefly's circuits, that purple malfunction would pay for destroying her property. Even if it was the last thing she did she would see Shockwave thrown into the Smelting Pits. On that thought she spun around and marched back through the fortress, Tracer and Barricade following close behind.

"Firefly, where are we going?"

"Shockwave's future home."

She missed the look that passed between Barricade and Tracer, she was focused on the steep stairs under her. In her head she was creating an extensive list of supplies that she would need to return Darkmount to its former glory.

The dungeon door slid open with a hiss. The chamber was dark, the only light coming from a hole in the floor. The familiar sound of bubbling acid met her audios and Firefly reveled for a moment in its sizzling.

Her optics roved over the shadowy room and scowled. A pair of mechs stood on either side of a hatch over the main Pit, the winch between them whirred as something was lowered into the acid below.

"When I sent out the order that everything was to stop, which part of it didn't you understand?" Her voice was deceptively calm.

The mechs heads whipped around. One stammered a reply while the other stopped the winch. Firefly stepped forward and flicked her hands casually as she spoke.

"What could possibly be so important that you would risk tempting my ire by disobeying that order? Is there something you're trying to keep from me?"

"Yeah, us." A voice called from the dark.

Firefly's optics narrowed and she moved towards the voice. It was common practice for traitors, useless prisoners and deactivated mechs to be melted down. Firefly herself had orders many mechs to the Pits but there was something about that voice that drew her closer.

A sharp command thrown over her shoulder had the dim lights turned on. As Firefly approached, a pair of red optics gleamed in the shadows at the back of the cell. Only when she was close to the energy bars did the speaker come properly into the light.

"Misfire? I told you that you would end up in here one day."

The mech's smile was drawn. "And you were right. Now could you get me out of her before they smelt me?"

Firefly crossed her arms. "That depends on what you did to get locked in here."

"I displayed my impressive marksmanship for my leader."

"You mean you shot your commanding officer."

Misfire nodded and Firefly laughed. Shaking her head she deactivated the energy bars and Misfire stepped out stretching his servos.

Tracer and Barricade appeared next to them.

"What are you doing? He admitted to shooting a superior officer." Tracer glared at Misfire.

Firefly waved away Tracer's words. "Everyone knows that Misfire couldn't hit a target even of it was two feet away. I promise you, he was not aiming for the mech he hit."

Tracer continued to scowl but said nothing. Misfire smiled and gripped Barricade's outstretched arm.

Firefly moved back to the row of cells to see who else Shockwave had locked up in her brig. Optic brows rose as she found herself studying the beaten chassis of an Autobot.

"Tracer, what is an Autobot doing in my brig?"

"Waiting for his colleague to be melted." Came the toneless reply.

Firefly whirled around and marched to the hatch. Readjusting her optics she could see a dark form dangling from the end of the chain.

She turned on the two guards, fire flying from her optics.

"If that Autobot isn't back in this room within five astro-seconds, one of you will be deactivated."

The mechs stepped back and cowered. The fury didn't drain out of Firefly as she glared into their terrified faces. Raising her gun, she pulled the trigger and felt some satisfaction when a hole appeared in the front of one helmet and bits of circuitry flew from the back. The remaining guard stepped aside quickly as his comrade fell lifeless to the ground. Firefly stood with her still smoking weapon.

"Bring the Autobot up."

"But Lord Shockwave said-" A shot skimming the side of his head stopped the mech from finishing his sentence.

"If you want to continue functioning you will do what I say."

The mech nodded hastily and rushed back to the winches controls, soon the low buzz of machinery filled the air and Firefly watched the opening to see which Autobot had nearly been deactivated. Slowly a blackened helmet emerged, followed by a dented, smoking body. Burns covered its legs and lower chassis, showing just how close to the acid he had gotten, its green and grey paintwork was barely discernable but there was no mistaking that face.

"Kup?" Firefly whispered in horrified wonder.

The head lifted weakly before slumping back onto his chest. The Autobot still locked in the cell lurched to his feet, Firefly paid no attention to him. She swung around to face Barricade and Misfire.

"Barricade, get this cretin out of my sight, do what you want with him." She looked down at the guard. "If you ever step into this brig again, I will personally drop you into the deepest, hottest part of that smelting pit. Compute?"

The mech's head bobbed and Barricade escorted him out. Firefly transmitted another request as 'Cade exited the brig.

With a sigh Firefly turned back to Tracer. "How many Autobots are in my brig?"

"Three."

"I want you to bring me three portable stasis pods and I want them now."

The officer nodded tersely and left.

Misfire stood to the side. "Feeling benevolent?"

"No Autobots will be tortured and deactivated while I control these Pits."

He moved to stand beside her. "Showing mercy?"

She shook her head. "Good business." She frowned. "Tracer said three Autobots. I only see two, where's the third?"

An uncertain look passed over Misfire's face before he led her to the row of cells. The Autobot she had seen earlier was still at the bars, his silver face was scratched and the red and orange paint was almost unrecognizable. His blue optics glared at her.

"Don't you dare touch him."

Firefly raised an optic ridge. The scrapling was giving her orders, how audacious. She let her optics slide over his beaten chassis. If the kid hadn't been in such a vulnerable situation she could easily have found him appealing.

"I'll do what I like, scraplet, whether you want me to or not."

The silver face scowled darkly. Firefly dismissed him as unimportant and moved to the next cell. No movement betrayed the presence of an Autobot or anything else functional.

"Which cell?"

Misfire gestured to the one she was looking in. A frown appeared on her face as she deactivated the energy bars. The Autobot in the first cell continued to glare and grumble.

Firefly entered the dark chamber and searched the shadows. A light shine caught her attention and she crouched. Her fingers played over the smooth curve of an arm, with a slight heave she pulled the body into the light. Air caught in her intakes for a second time as she stared at the pale blue mech. Running scans over the body Firefly's anger and concern grew as she catalogued each dent, scratch and exposed circuit.

She looked over her shoulder. "As soon as Tracer returns with the stasis pods, he is to go directly into one."

Misfire nodded and stood back so Firefly could exit the cell. Leaving the energy bars offline she returned to stand infront of Kup. His weathered face slack yet twisted with pain.

"Misfire, lower him to me."

Her ex-soldier did as she bid without question. The winch whirred back into life and Kup descended. Firefly stood on the edge of the hatch and held out her arms.

"Let him go! Don't touch him Decepticon!" The young Autobot yelled.

Firefly ignored his shouts and pulled Kup away from the hole in the floor. When he was lying on the ground she released the chains wrapped around his arms. A muttered curse slipped from her as she rubbed at the scorch marks on his face.

The brig doors opened and Barricade entered balancing three energon cubes in his arms. Misfire quickly took one and both mechs moved back to Firefly.

Focused on removing as much dirt and grime from the old Autobot's face as possible, Firefly didn't notice Barricade until he stood next to her.

"How bad is the damage?" He asked passing her a cube.

"All of them have been tortured. Only one is online. Blurr has the most damage, I'd say he was beaten into stasis."

"Blurr? That makes sense, he's a good scout. Although it may have been training as well considering how young that one is." He jerked his head towards the orange scraplet.

"How do you know they were scouts?"

"I asked Tracer."

"What's the status on our take-over?"

"Complete. All mechs are in position."

Firefly nodded and pulled Kup into a sitting position, bracing him against some crates. She lifted the energon cube and waved it under his face. A mild panic held Firefly and when he didn't move it increased. Searching her processors for anything that might bring the old Autobot back online, Firefly settled on physical violence. Pulling back her hand she brought it down hard, the sound of the sharp slap reverberated through the brig. The scraplet swore loudly. Firefly watched the grey face anxiously for a sign of life. She almost laughed when the blue optics flickered slightly. Grasping his head between her hands, Firefly stared intently into his optics until they were fully bright.

"Primus has a sense of humor if this is my welcoming party." He said hoarsely.

"You're not deactivated yet old 'bot. Drink this."

She held the cube to his lips. Kup stared at her for a moment before opening his mouth and letting Firefly pour some of the bright liquid down his throat. When a quarter of the cube was gone Firefly lowered it again.

"Feeling better?"

Before the older mech had a chance to reply, a shout came from behind her. "Kup! Kup are you all right? Get away from him Decepticon."

Firefly looked over her shoulder to glare at the Autobot.

"Calm your transistors kid." Kup growled. He looked to Firefly. "I thought you had already joined the Matrix."

Firefly stood and motioned Barricade to help Kup to his feet. "Not quite yet. You took one hell of a battering Kup. Stretch your servos and tell me if everything still works."

Barricade stepped back and allowed Kup to stand on his own. He was unsteady for a moment but quickly gained his balance. Weary blue optics caught hers.

"You still protecting us Autobots from the smelting pit?"

"Don't make it sound noble Kup. The other Autobots would pay more for you online than off."

He wheezed a laugh and coughed. Firefly immediately held out the energon cube.

"If they don't pay then I'll put you right back where I found you."

Kup smiled around the cube. Firefly turned serious.

"What were you doing here, Kup, when you got caught?"

His weary optics were reproachful. "You know I can't tell you that."

"Tracer says you were scouts. What exactly were you scouting?"

"I can't tell you." He stressed.

She smiled thinly. "Tell me now or I'll start on your cute little buddy."

The weathered face frowned at her. "Leave the kid out of this. He doesn't know anything, he was just following orders."

"I've heard that one before. It never stopped me before either. So tell me what I want to know or I get nice and close with the scraplet." She inched closer to the cell.

"You don't need to do that."

"The only way to stop me is by telling me what I want to know."

Kup seemed to ponder this as she moved even closer to the young Autobot. She had Misfire pulling the struggling and protesting mech out of the cell when Kup finally spoke.

"All right, just leave Hot Rod out of this."

"Hot Rod? Appropriate name." She trailed a hand down his cheek. "He is rather handsome isn't he?"

"Leave him alone, Firefly."

She turned a speculative look from Hot Rod to Kup. "He's your plaything? Why Kup, you sly dog, I didn't think you had it in you."

"He's my student." Kup protested.

"Of course he is." She glanced up into Hot Rod's face. It was stiff, his optics glared at her. "I don't think he likes me much."

She rose up on her feet and pressed her lips softly to HotRod's. The mech shook, whether from anger or something else Firefly didn't know. She increased the pressure of her mouth on his for just a moment before pulling away. The young Autobot's optics were dim and his face scrunched in a tight frown. She laughed lightly and returned to stand infront of Kup.

"Talk. Why were you here?"

Kup's face showed his unhappiness at having to answer. "We were investigating Shockwave's latest improvements on the Dead End."

"Did you find anything interesting?"

"Why should I tell you?"

"I could ask Hot Rod."

"Leave the kid alone."

"Then you tell me, what did you find?"

Kup hesitated for a moment. "Not a lot, if you haven't noticed, a large chunk has been taken out of it. Not much left except scorched ground."

Firefly ran a finger over her mouth. If the old bot was telling the truth, Shockwave was doing nothing more than weapons testing on a bunch of Empties. That didn't bother her; she hated those creepy energon-starved mechs. But it did mean that he was sitting on some very impressive and destructive weaponry, and that could be very bad for her and her city. As soon as she got her defensive protocols back in place she could start her revenge on the cycloptic guardian. But she would only start once she was sure Polyhex could fend off any attack he could muster, she didn't want to be murdered in her berth.

"Thank you, Kup. Misfire, put him in the cell with hot stuff there, and reactivate the bars on Blur's cell."

She crossed her arms and waited for her two mechs to come closer. She quickly explained her unease concerning Shockwave and his possible armaments.

Her spark pulse jumped when the lights went red and a loud alarm started above them. The sound was muted in the brig but still detectable through the ceiling.

"That doesn't sound promising." Misfire said lowly.

"Do you think it could be Shockwave?"

Firefly shook her head. "He has no reason to attack yet. I've irritated him yes, but I haven't done anything that calls for my destruction. Well, not much anyway. It's unlikely he would care that I've gained Polyhex since he still controls all of Cybertron."

She looked back at the Autobots. Hot Rod stood close to the bars, his head tilted towards them as if he were trying to hear what they were saying.

"Come on. The Autobots will be fine while we find out what's going on."

The alarms continued to blare as Firefly led the way back through the fortress. She potted Tracer as they crossed the main hall.

"What is it?"

"Autobots just entered the city's perimeter. They've come for the prisoners."

They entered the control room. Firefly stood behind Trip-wire as he hammered away at a console. Several dots glowed on the radar.

"Show me here." She moved to the scale representation of Polyhex and its surrounding lands. A neon green electrical grid appeared over the map. Six blips moved steadily forward.

Firefly frowned as a thought occurred. "The prisoners are supposed to be deactivated."

"Yes." Tracer replied.

"Do the Autobots know that?"

"Yes."

"And they are willing to collect empty shells?"

"They have been in the past." A mech behind her snickered.

She resisted shooting the unknown mech. "How many Autobots have been deactivated here and sent back?"

"According to the records, six." Trip-wire answered.

Firefly pushed away a surge of anger, emotions would do her no good, but still it simmered. The number of atrocities that had been committed in her absence was growing by the hour, and it was all Shockwave's doing.

She moved to the main viewscreen as an idea bloomed. A smile curved on her mouth. The dark figures grew and Firefly felt an anticipatory excitement bubble in her. She didn't usually do good deeds, but if it had the potential of pissing off Shockwave then it was worth it.

"Let the Autobots through until they reach the front gate."

The Decepticons looked at her with uncertainty but didn't protest her order. Satisfaction flowed through her at how easy it was to control her minions. It wasn't the thrill of pleasure or excitement that she had felt before going off-line, it was a more subdued joy.

"Monitor the Autobots but take no action." She waited for Tracer's nod. "Barricade, with me." She stopped by Trip-wire and said in an undertone. "Contact me if they disobey."

Firefly left the control room with Barricade, leaving Tracer to watch over the situation from there, and Trip-wire to watch him. Barricade didn't question her as they moved through the fortress. He didn't need to, they shared a similar wave-length.

They exited near the cannon-stations, a thin bridge connected from there to the outer wall. The mechs watched her warily but nodded when she told them not to fire unless by her order. Leaving the soldiers behind, they crossed the bridge to the outer battlements.

Firefly remained out of sight as her enemies got closer, she could see them approaching through a small slit in the wall. Her optics widened. They had sent quite the team to pick up some scrap metal. Ultra Magnus, Springer, Roadbuster, Arcee, Wheelie and Hot Shot stood at the base of the slope, a covered transport sat behind them.

Firefly counted again. Seven with the cargo. But then why had their radar only picked up six? The small orange freak must have slipped beneath its notice. She made a mental note to recalibrate it.

Ultra Magnus stepped forward. "Show yourselves, Decepticons. We've held up our end of the bargain."

Firefly frowned at the resigned tone of his voice. She stood up sharply and smiled. "Magnus!"

Four pairs of optics widened, two narrowed.

Firefly shrugged off Barricade's restraining hand and leapt over the battlements and glided towards the Autobots. She landed lightly infront of them.

"Hello Ultra Magnus." She chirped happily. "What brings you to my humble abode?"

"You're in charge here Firefly?"

"I am now and just in case you team gets any ideas, my Decepticons have orders to shoot to kill if any of you make a move against me." She smiled. "So, what can I do for you?"

"We've come for the bodies of the Autobots you have." Magnus replied.

Firefly cocked her head to the side. "Just their bodies? That poses a problem, one I can take care of easily but still a problem."

"When can we have them?"

"Well, I'll have to deactivate them first, so if you don't mind waiting while I do a good job, I could have them ready for you in two cycles."

"They're alive!" Arcee gasped, a hand flew to her mouth.

Firefly smiled condescendingly. "They are, for the moment."

Ultra Magnus' optics narrowed. "What do you want Firefly?"

She liked it when they knew her routine; it made everything so much easier. "How much are you willing to pay for their safe return?"

"We have five hundred energon cubes."

Firefly tapped her chin with a fingertip. "Hmm, since you've caught me in a good mood on my day of triumph, I'll make you a deal. You can keep half of those energon cubes if you bring me some other items."

"What items?"

She pulled a datapad from subspace and quickly wrote down some of the things she had noticed Darkmount needed. She passed the datapad to Ultra Magnus and waited as he read it. He looked back to her.

"And if we can't get it all?"

She smiled coldly. "Then you choose who doesn't get to go home."

Springer growled and clenched his fists. He glared daggers at Firefly.

Firefly tilted her head and let her optics roam up and down over the green chassis. "Does one of them belong to you, Springer? Is that why you're so angry? I can't imagine its Kup, he's too old. So that leaves Blurr and the young one, but Blur's too annoying and you can never understand a thing he says." She stepped up to him and walked her fingers up his chest, he tensed. "Which only leaves that luscious, adorable Hot Rod. I don't blame you Springer," She licked at her lips. "He tastes nice."

Firefly danced back, laughing, as Springer's hand reached for her.

"Ah, ah, ah. Attack me and you all die."

"I don't trust you."

"I wouldn't either, but just to prove that I haven't destroyed them yet…" She radioed the control centre. _#Trip-wire, get Diesel to bring the Autobot Hot Rot up to the battlements. We have visitors for him.#_ She received an affirmative reply and grinned smugly back at the Autobots. "Hot Rod should be visible momentarily…While we wait, I'm curious, why did you bring five _hundred_ energon cubes if you were expecting to get back empty shells? Isn't that paying a bit much for smelting metal?"

She felt a great deal of satisfaction when all the Autobots tensed and glared at her.

Wheelie spoke up. "Megatron may be the leading glitch, but Firefly's a massive bi-"

"Finish that sentence and I will make sure Ultra Magnus leaves with at least one dead Autobot." Firefly growled, the muzzle of her gun almost pressed against the orange freak's forehead.

Her finger curled lightly around the trigger. Wheelie's optics widened and his mouth closed.

"Now wait patiently and you can see your toy-bot again."

She continued to smile icily as the time passed. The Autobots shifted uncomfortably, no doubt feeling more than vulnerable standing out in the open in the heart of Decepticon territory. They didn't have to wait long. Barricade signaled her and Firefly joined him on the battlements at the same time that Diesel pushed Hot Rod forward. Tension radiated off the Autobots. Maybe she should have roughed up the scraplet first.

Arcee was the first to break. "Hot Rod!"

The frantic expression on her face made Firefly feel very good, yet it also pricked at her memory. She'd seen an expression like that directed at her once. She pushed the strange sensation aside.

Dropping next to the red and orange mech, Firefly faced the group of Autobots. "There, you have your proof that the captives are still functional. Now go and get me what I want."

"Hot Rod, are you all right?" Springer demanded ignoring her command.

_Primus save me from concerned lovers_. Firefly thought.

"I am but Kup and Blurr need a medic."

"Give my Autobots the care they need and you have a deal." Ultra Magnus said.

Firefly sneered. "This isn't a negotiation. You get me what's on that list or I start taking your little soldiers apart." She ran a hand down Hot Rod's cheek. "Piece by piece."

"Don't you dare. If you do anything to harm them, I will kill you." Arcee declared relatively calmly.

Firefly had to stop herself from laughing. She sent Diesel back inside, towing a protesting Hot Rod. "Feeling particularly protective are you, Arcee?"

She glared back. "Leave him alone, you sorry excuse for a machine."

Ire peaked; Firefly stepped off the battlements and walked through the air towards the outraged femme. "You're threats don't scare me, Autobitch. I've faced Megatron during his rages." She left out that Megatron was usually beating Starscream at the time. "So anything you want to throw at me, go ahead. I'll still be standing when you're being dismantled for spare parts."

The pink femme scowled fiercely but was saved from doing anything rash when Springer grabbed her arm and pulled her behind him.

Firefly eyed the protective stance and grinned. "You're working the both of them, Springer? That's impressive. Is it a group thing or one-on-one?"

The lead Wrecker snarled at her but she just laughed. "Don't short-circuit. You have my word, the Autobots won't be harmed."

"Your word means nothing."

"My word should be the most important thing to you right now, because without it your little friends are smelter food." She stepped back, thrusters kicking in and she floated above them. "Continue to disobey me and Hot Rod will be the first to suffer. Compute?"

Ultra Magnus stepped forward. "How long do we have?"

Firefly tapped her chin and made a show of thinking. "An orn. Take any longer and Hot Stuff becomes my toy. Goodbye, Autobots."

Without waiting for a reply she jetted away from them, joining Barricade on the wall.

"I think that went well." She said as she landed.

They watched the Autobots reluctantly leave Springer's catching hers one last time. There was a promise of pain in that gaze. Firefly smiled.

"Now we see if the Autobots do what their told." Barricade growled.

"They will." Firefly said with absolute certainty. "Springer cares for the scrapling, and if that doesn't stop him from doing something stupid Arcee will. She won't let anything risk his safety."

"Ultra Magnus will keep them in line at the very least. He can't afford to lose anymore Autobots." Barricade started towards the fortress. "If it were Prime, we'd probably have a fight on our hands."

Firefly purred. "What I would give to have Optimus Prime in my hands."

He chuckled. "I meant if he were leading them instead of Ultra Magnus."

She shrugged. It didn't matter how she got control over the leader of the Autobots, only that she did.

"Everything will go my way in time. It always has. Right now I want to focus on getting my power back. First, Darkmount needs to be rebuilt."

"Second?"

"We hunt Autobots."

Barricade's grin of dark anticipation was echoed on Firefly's face.

* * *

**Please review, even if it's just to let me know you like it.**

**TammyCat**


	6. Deal with the Devil

* * *

Firefly sauntered into the brig with a smile on her face and an energon cube in her hand. Her crimson optics swept over the Autobots assessingly, judging their worth. Truthfully, she could get far more for them than what she was. What a shame she had been in such a good mood that day.

"Looks like you boys will be going home. Well, most of you."

Kup frowned at her. "What are you talking about?"

Firefly slowly walked over to Hot Rod. The scraplet was restrained by chains from the ceiling, his arms pulled high over his head. His feet were bolted to the floor so there was nowhere he could move.

"I think I'll keep you."

"What's going on, Firefly?"

She turned to face the old mech. "Since when do I dance to your tune?"

"You said you'd release us after an orn."

She shrugged one shoulder. "I say a lot of things, the majority are lies. You should remember that for future reference."

He growled. "You vowed."

"That was only if the Autobots came up with the ransom. Which they haven't, so I get to keep one of you. I choose Hot Stuff."

Silence filled the room as her words sank into their slow Autobot processors. She sipped her energon as she watched blue optics widen in concern and fear.

"Why keep the kid? I know more than he ever will."

"That's probably very true, but he's the greater asset."

"What do you mean?" Hot Rod asked.

It wasn't often that the young Autobot spoke in her presence so she rewarded him with an answer. "They'll pay more for you if I provide proof that you continue to function. If I destroy you, I'll never get what I want."

"What about Blurr? He's the intelligence officer."

Firefly nodded and looked over at the stasis pod. "Yes but he doesn't have Springer's stamp of approval. The mighty green glitch will do what I want for the return of his lover, as will Arcee. Better yet, if they decide to try and rescue you, then I'll have three mechs to sell back to the Autobots." She grinned up at the orange and red mech. "I love it when you all play into my hands."

"You do realize we're going to tell them your plans." Kup said. "Your trap will be useless."

Firefly swung back. "I fully intend on that. Tell them my plans, it will just get me what I want. You can't win with me, Kup, not when I hold all the cards."

"You keep saying that, what _do_ you want?"

She looked over her shoulder. "Oh, Hot Rod, that's a loaded question."

Turning, she draped her arms around his neck and started nibbling up the side of his neck as she pressed her body against his. "I want power. I want control. I want revenge. Most of all, I want to destroy all the Autobots." His frame shivered as she traced her glossa around the outside of his audio. "When you find that you can no longer stand their spirit-crushing morality, come join me. I could use a mech with your skills."

She arched into him and sealed their lips together. Damn, the scraplet tasted good. Reluctantly she released him and chuckled. His optics were dazed and his hands twitched in their bonds.

"That offer will definitely be open in the future."

"I liked you better when you were a memory." Kup said behind her.

Firefly turned. "I bet you did. Too bad I came back, huh."

The buzz of a transmission brought her hand up to her audio. She grinned. "The last of the Autobots has arrived. I'll be back, don't go anywhere."

She left the energon cube on a table and exited the room. Hot Rod looked longingly at the shining source of power. His energy levels were drained. He could still taste the energon from her kiss. He looked over at his mentor.

"She knows what she's doing, doesn't she?"

Kup nodded. "She never does anything without it having a purpose. Carelessness isn't something she's familiar with."

* * *

Barricade met her at the main entrance. He didn't look confident but Firefly put that down to the close proximity of the Autobots. She surveyed the rest of her escort, a mix of racers and soldiers. Diesel stood to one side looking cocky. Tracer's bland expression wasn't anything new.

"What are you waiting for? Open those doors!" She barked. They scurried.

Barricade appeared next to her. "Is this such a good idea?"

She looked up at his quizzically. "It's always worked in the past."

He nodded but didn't look convinced. The massive doors parted and she strode forwards, the Decepticons falling in behind her.

_*Trip-wire, keep all weapons on the Autobots. If they make a move, fire.*_ She received an affirmative response.

Ultra Magnus stepped forward as her pack approached. Firefly's optics roved over the transports piled high with the things she had ordered. Each one was enclosed so she couldn't see inside. The Decepticons surrounded the Autobots and took away their weapons.

"Very good, Magnus. Is it all here?" She asked as she inspected one of the transports.

"Just about."

She paused and turned to face the much larger mech. "Just about means it isn't all here. I guess Hot Rod will be my guest a little longer."

Off to the side, Springer growled.

"Don't fret, Springer. I'll take very good care of him. I'll even let him recharge in my quarters." She laughed at his dark expression before turning back to Ultra Magnus. "What couldn't you get?"

"The ionic disruptor. They don't exist anymore."

"You could have had one built."

"Not within an orn, and the only engineer that knows how to build it is on Earth."

Firefly pursed her lips, that was unfortunate. The ionic disruptor would have given her an advantage over Shockwave, not to mention the Autobots. You couldn't attack what you couldn't see. She'd researched the distant planet Megatron and Optimus Prime had landed on. A small organic ball that was full of untapped energy resources. She was surprised Megatron hadn't conquered it yet.

"What else?"

Ultra Magnus held out a datapad, she took it and scrolled through the list.

"The artworks you wanted recovered have all disappeared. There is no trail, they just vanished over the years."

Firefly frowned, once again it was unfortunate. The treasures that had once graced the galleries of her citadel were now lost. Damn Shockwave! It was because of him that her entire collection was sold to finance his war against the Autobot rebels. The very same rebels she was making deals with now.

"Is that it or have you failed some more?"

"Everything else you requested is here." He replied stiffly.

"Good." She turned and walked back to where her Decepticons ringed the Autobots. "Pair up, grab an Autobot and go through the transports. Make sure everything is there. If anything is missing let me know."

They split and did as she ordered, only Barricade stayed at her side. A smirk played across her face as she watched the Decepticons manhandling the Autobots. Luckily it was Tracer holding onto Arcee's arm, any other mech would have done something to warrant their deactivation by now. As it was, the Autobots kept close optics on Arcee and Wheelie. One by one the Decepticons reported back the results of their searches.

Firefly looked up at Ultra Magnus, his expression as stony as ever. "You've done well. I'll consider overlooking the minor lapse. Your Autobots will be brought out momentarily."

She sent three of the Decepticons inside to retrieve the prisoners while the rest moved the transports into the main hall.

The Autobots remained tense as they waited. It amused Firefly to watch their reactions whenever a mech appeared on the slope. She was tempted to get a couple of Decepticons to walk past the main entry intermittently just to extend her entertainment.

Eventually two mechs appeared guiding a stasis pod down the slope. They stopped in front of Firefly, she sent them back for the next one.

"As you can see, Blurr is still functional but not operational." She rested a hand on the transparent covering while gazing down at the immobile face. It was bizarre to see the mech that was constantly in motion so still. "I've had him repaired as well as possible. I haven't risked reactivating him, I thought I'd leave that for you."

"Roadbuster, Hot Shot, get Blurr back to base." Ultra Magnus commanded. "I trust we have your protection until we're beyond Polyhex's boundaries."

Firefly nodded. "Of course, when haven't I taken care of you during our exchanges."

The leader nodded and the pair moved forward and took control of the hovering pod.

Kup was next out. He was restrained between two Decepticons with a third holding a gun to the back of his head.

"Causing problems again, Kup?" Springer called.

"No more than usual."

Firefly de-energized the stasis cuffs and the older mech rubbed at his wrists.

"That boy had better be right behind me."

She smirked. "I'm missing a few pieces, so he probably won't."

Arcee glared. "You're going to keep him because of a single disruptor and a handful of paintings?"

"Of course. You're now going bring me another two hundred energon cubes before you get him back."

The Autobots glared at her, Arcee clutching at Springer's arm. It never ceased to amuse Firefly, the Autobots were such easily controlled creatures. Especially when you had the right leverage.

She made a show of thinking. "I suppose you could have him back today…for a price."

"What is it?" Springer demanded.

She watched them for a moment, prolonging the tension. "The location of Elita-1."

They reeled back in horror even as a few processors raced. "That's not an option." Ultra Magnus said finally.

"Is that right? I would have thought parting with information was easier than parting with energon. It's always my choice." She waited for them to think about it. "How big are you energon stores? Can you afford to give me that many energon cubes?"

His serious face was tense. "Elita-1 wasn't part of the deal."

"The disruptor was. Elita-1's location is a fair trade. Actually I could do less damage with the information than I could with the disruptor."

When they continued not to give her the answer she wanted she started getting frustrated, not that she would let them know that.

"Come on, Magnus." She said enticingly. "Just tell me where to find her and you can have Hot Rod back today. Isn't that better than handing over the energon cubes and potentially starving?"

"She's right, Ultra Magnus, we don't have a choice." Kup said reluctantly.

Silence stretched for several clicks and Firefly wasn't sure if the big Autobot was going to cooperate, if he didn't she would have to start torturing the scraplet. Torture wasn't her strong suit, she was better at interrogations. Maybe she could use it as a chance to see what her new recruits could do.

Preoccupied as she was with her thoughts, Firefly didn't see Springer pull a weapon from some hidden compartment on his body.

"Not the wisest move, Autobot." Barricade's rough voice brought her back.

She looked up, Barricade was in front of her and Springer's gun was pointed at his chest. It would have been pointed at Firefly's head if Barricade hadn't moved. "What are you doing?"

"Release Hot Rod now or I shoot."

Firefly raised a brow and shrugged. "Go ahead. He can be replaced."

The Autobots stared at her, her cavalier attitude towards the serious threat surprised them.

"You don't care if I deactivate your second in command?"

"I doubt you'll deactivate him, he's a lot harder to kill than you think. The thing is, as soon as you pull that trigger there's going to be a nice hole where you're standing."

Sharp optics searched the fortress behind her.

"Put it down, Springer." Firefly smiled. "You have three seconds before I have you destroyed. Three…Two…"

"Tyger Pax."

Ultra Magnus' voice drew her away from Springer. "Again?"

"…Tyger Pax."

"Oh, Ultra Magnus, no." Arcee gasped.

A triumphant smile lit up Firefly's face. Finally a lead! Now that bitch's days were numbered.

"Thank you, Ultra Magnus. You can have your reward now. Barricade, remove Springer's weapon and bring out our young guest."

Barricade glared at the green mech as he pulled the gun away and departed.

"You know this information is conditional."

Springer looked ready to argue but Ultra Magnus cut him off before he could begin. "What are your terms?"

"If this information is incorrect, there will be no negotiation for the next Autobot I capture."

"Meaning you'll destroy them straight away." Kup guessed.

"That depends on whether they have anything I want, but yes. You won't get the chance to buy them back."

"That's only if the information is false."

"If you're telling the truth, we continue with our regular business."

"You sicken me." Arcee declared.

Firefly shrugged. "I'll console myself with the memories of how I made Hot Rod writhe."

Barricade chose that moment to bring the Autobot within hearing distance. His optics widened and his electrical field filled with embarrassed waves. Arcee and Springer turned to him in shock.

Firefly didn't stop the slight chuckle that bubbled in her chest, now that was a conversation she wanted to hear!

Now that business was over, she had to start formulating her plan for capturing Elita-1. "Get out of here, Autobots, before I change my mind."

* * *

Hot Rod walked between Springer and Arcee. It was tense as they made their way quickly out of the Decepticon stronghold. He could tell they were both angry but he didn't think it had much to do about Firefly's comment. Arcee kept shooting Ultra Magnus dirty looks and Springer just growled, his hand almost crushing Hot Rod's fingers.

"Arcee, stop. He's beating himself up as it is." Kup said.

"So he should." She hissed. "He betrayed Elita."

"It was the only way. We couldn't afford to give her that much energon and we couldn't leave Hot Rod there. No, Springer, we couldn't've attacked. Ultra Magnus did the right thing."

"No, I did the only thing. But I will correct it."

Hot Rod heard the buzz as he contacted Autobot Headquarters.

_*Roadbuster, what's Blurr's condition?*_

_*First Aid is working on him. He should be on his feet in cycles.*_

_*Excellent. As soon as he is functional, prepare him for a trip to Tyger Pax.*_ They heard Roadbuster's affirmative reply.

Arcee smiled. "You're going to warn Elita-1."

"That's my boy." Kup crowed.

Hot Rod smiled, Firefly should have known they wouldn't give up Optimus Prime's spark-mate so easily.

* * *

Firefly had to wait until the Autobots had disappeared completely before Barricade spoke.

"Go ahead. He can be replaced. Is that the only thing you could think of to say?"

Firefly rolled her optics and smiled. "I did say you were hard to kill."

"Ultra Magnus is hard to kill but you don't see the Autobots painting a target on _his_ head."

She turned towards Darkmount. "You know what the problem is here?"

"You want to use me for smelting materials?"

"I treat you too well."

"Hah!"

"If our relationship was anything like Megatron's and Starscream's, I probably would have beaten you twice today already." She predicated as they climbed the slope.

Barricade snorted. "I think telling Springer to pull the trigger counts towards that."

"You could try and assassinate me if you feel hard done by."

The dark head shook. "I prefer to be the shadow-master and control you from the background."

Firefly snickered and entered the main hall. The transports were uncovered and her optics roved over the extensive collection of equipment. During her mental perusal she locked optics with a familiar face.

"Misfire, good to see you functioning properly."'

He nodded. "I have some information you might be interested in."

"Today must be my lucky day. What have you got?"

"Stormcloud."

Her optics narrowed. "Where?"

"Here in Polyhex."

Firefly's mind raced. If Stormcloud was in Polyhex and she hadn't seen him yet, there was only one place he could be. "Slag."

Barricade grunted an agreement.

"How long has he been there?"

"There's no way to know. I thought you'd want to be told since he was one of your personal guards."

Firefly nodded. It would explain why none of her trackers had been able to locate him, they'd been searching outside the city. "If he's in the Dead End, Why didn't he leave once I reclaimed Polyhex?"

Both bots shrugged. "Could be any number of reasons." Barricade said. "I doubt news travels fast through the Dead End, he might not know you're back."

"He could be so deep in debt that he's embarrassed to come forward." Misfire offered.

Firefly scowled. "One way or the other. I want him found. His administration experience in invaluable. No one else knows how to run my empire."

"The scrapling won't like that." Barricade chuckled. "Demotions shouldn't be this funny."

"Then he shouldn't have gotten himself caught in the Dead End. He knows I hate that place." She sighed. It would serve him right if she let him rust there. Too bad a punishment wasn't effective unless the mech knew he was being punished.

"Send someone down there and find me some rust-infected vagrants. Some that know their way around. I want to spend as little time there as possible."

"You're going to the Dead End?" Misfire asked with a shudder.

"Yes, I'm going to kick Stormcloud's aft myself."

She stalked from the main Hall, leaving Barricade to distribute the cargo.

* * *

**Sincerely,**

**TammyCat**


	7. The Dead End

**This could be it for a while. I'll be going interstate soon and won't be near a computer.**

**Thank you RattlesnakeGoingBackwards. I'm glad you're enjoying this ^_^**

* * *

"I'm looking for a mech."

Snickers greeted her words as the four scrap-piles in front of her had similar thoughts. The beggars leered at her.

"We're mechs, sweetspark. Lookin' for one of us?" The most rusted one grinned. The other three snickered again.

Revulsion washed over Firefly's spark. She hated that she was reduced to using these Empties. They were nothing more than energon leaches.

"I'm looking for someone useful." She sneered down at them. "Not a malfunctioning waste of space. Give me your answer."

The lead Empty stepped forward. Diesel and Trip-wire were immediately in front of her. "Depends on what your offerin' us."

"There are five energon cubes for each of you if you aid me and we are successful."

Dead optics now shone bright with hunger and anticipation. She could practically hear the excited revs of their decrepit engines. They really were the most disgusting creatures she'd ever come across.

"Yea, we'll help. When do we get the cubes?"

"Once I have what I came for." She shooed it away and turned to the mechs she'd brought along. The Empty joined the other three back in its corner. "Two of you will accompany an Empty each. Meet back here before the light fades."

"Should we be splitting up?" Trip-wire asked, his optics darting nervously. "These Empties aren't trustworthy."

"You'll be fine Trip, Diesel will watch your back. Barricade, you're with me." She paired the other four mechs and gave them each a datapad with Stormcloud's picture on it. "I want this mech found. Bring him to me in whatever condition you find him. Preferably still active."

The Decepticons nodded and separated, each picking up one of the rusted mechs as they started the search. Finally only Firefly, Barricade and the lead Empty was left. It leered at her hungrily.

"Let's get one thing straight." She said coldly. "You make me sick. I want to purge my tanks every time I look at you. If I didn't need a guide through this disgusting cesspool, I would have deactivated you on sight. Do you understand?"

The Empty nodded but the greedy light in his optics didn't go away.

Allowing a shudder of revulsion to roll over her chassis, Firefly motioned for the Empty to lead the way. It's shuffling steps and hunched shoulders didn't increase Firefly's confidence with this endeavor. It was just as likely that this rusting piece of scrap-metal would try and kill them just to drink the energon from their pipes.

"Your friend most likely got caught in the gaming dens. Many mechs walk in here, their pockets full of credits, and they never leave."

"Let me guess, that happened to you?"

It laughed roughly. "Naw, I came here to escape. You see, I sold secrets to the Autobots during the war. High Command found out and put a bounty on my head. I figured I could hide out here until they stopped looking."

Firefly exchanged a look with Barricade and kept walking. Great, their guide was a traitor, now she felt even better. The dilapidated buildings seemed to close in on them.

"I'm tempted to go above." Firefly said quietly.

"You won't see much. These buildings are designed to hide whoever is on the ground. It makes it harder for aerial squadrons to find their targets." Barricade replied.

She smirked. "Heh, I forgot that you spent the last three thousand vorns in this sort of environment."

He shrugged. "Experience is the best teacher."

They continued deeper into the Dead End and Firefly kept her gun in her hand at all times. The Empty led them to several buildings that housed gamblers or the gaming hells themselves. They didn't find any trace of her missing assistant.

"Misfire said he was here." Firefly groused as they exited the eleventh structure the Empty had shown them.

"It was a rumor, and it said he had debts."

The Empty turned. "Who does he owe?"

Barricade shrugged. "Someone called Canon."

The Empty laughed again, it scraped harshly in Firefly's audios. "You should have said that earlier. Canon keeps his debtors close to his den."

At the end of her patience, Firefly swung her gun up and aimed between the Empty's optics. "Take us there now."

"Sure, sure. Keep your circuits straight." He shuffled off and Firefly followed.

Minutes later they stood outside a dark, tilted shell. It couldn't be called a building; it could barely be called shelter.

"If we find Storm in here, I'm going to beat him down to his last transistor." Barricade grumbled.

Firefly eyed the doorway. "You'll have to fish his body out of the Pools first."

Their guide disappeared and Firefly and Barricade gingerly followed. The inside was worse than the outside. Rusting sheets of metal hung from the walls, causing Firefly to keep her wings close to her body. Behind her, Barricade growled out curses. The Empty stood to the side, happy to let Firefly and Barricade waste their time searching through the dark, rundown rooms.

Dismissing several of the occupants as too large or too small or even too dead, Firefly's hopes continued to dwindle as she looked around. A lopsided doorway stood at the end of the room, she headed for it. On the other side was another collection of Empties and mechs. One pair in particular caught her attention. They were just like all the others, covered in filth and rust, and cowering from the intruders. What interested Firefly was that they were half-hidden by blockade of sorts.

She carefully picked her way over to the barricade and peered in. One mech had a familiar design with the right colors, while the other was completely unknown.

"'Cade." She called softly.

Barricade appeared next to her and snorted derisively when he saw the pair.

"Think we should wake them up?"

He grinned and started to pull pieces of their defense away. When they were accessible Barricade turned on his front lights and kicked the familiar one. It woke with a start and jerked back into the wall.

"Ahh! Please, I said we'd get the credits. We just need more time, that's all." The voice was right.

"You've had enough time." Firefly snarled, impersonating the mech who held them. "How dare you waste your time recharging here when you could be getting back what you owe."

Stormcloud quivered and shrunk back. "I'll get started right away."

Firefly tapped Barricade chassis. "That's enough." The lights shut down. She shook her head at the younger mech. "Get on your feet, scraplet, we've spent too much time here looking for you."

His optics widened. "Firefly?"

"Yes. Are you ready to leave?"

Stormcloud scrambled to his feet. "Of course…I thought you were dead."

"That is the common belief. Come on, I don't want to be here any longer than I need to be."

"Okay." He turned and shook the unknown mech roughly. "Blackout, get up, we're leaving."

"Who's he?" Barricade asked as the dark mech stirred.

Stormcloud looked back at them, concern shining in his optics. "My brother. He can come, right?"

Firefly nodded. "Sure, just move out."

Several more tries and Stormcloud's brother stood up. He watched Firefly and Barricade suspiciously. "Who are they? Can we trust them?"

"I trust them more than I do you." Storm replied stepping out of their corner. Blackout frowned but followed him.

Thankful to finally be able to leave this Primus forsaken Pit-hole. Firefly rushed through to the outer room. She would have continued but a wide mech stood in her way. It saw Stormcloud and Blackout behind and scowled. "What do you think you're doing?"

"Taking these two."

"They owe me credits."

Desperate to get out of the rust-infested shack, Firefly raised her gun and shot the mech. At such close range the entire top part of his head exploded. Bits of circuitry and fluid rained down around them.

"They don't anymore." She stepped over the body and out into the street.

A pair of ragged mechs stood outside the door. Obviously Canon's henchmechs. They stepped aside as their employer crumpled at their feet. Firefly faced them with her gun still raised.

"Remove yourselves from my way or I will shoot you."

"You took down Canon." One exclaimed, he stepped forward.

The explosion rocked the buildings around them. Sheets of rusted metal slipped from the roofs and crashed into the dingy alley.

"I told you to get out of my way."

The second mech moved quickly out of the way and Firefly smiled tightly.

Behind her she heard. "You said we had to go with her, you didn't tell me she was insane."

Firefly didn't recognize the voice, meaning it could only belong to Stormcloud's brother. She spun, her gun hanging almost casually in her grip. "Do we have a problem?"

"No, sir." Stormcloud replied crisply.

"Good. Let's get out of here. I hate Empties. Barricade recall the others."

Blackout pushed to the front. "Who the frag are you?"

Storm rushed forward. "Forgive him, my lord. He's an idiot."

Firefly paused. "Stormcloud, I did not train you to beg for mercy. Continue to do so and I will consider you a wasted effort, and you know what I do with mechs who waste my time."

Stormcloud nodded. "Yes, my lord."

"That is not what I wanted to hear." She drew back and slapped him.

"Hey!" Blackout tried to push past Storm.

"No." His red optics caught hers. "Leave my brother alone."

She leaned closer. "What will you do if I don't?"

"Make you regret it."

Firefly grinned and back-handed him. "Good. Now get to Darkmount before I lose my temper."

Stormcloud bowed and grabbed him brother's wrist before pelting down the lane.

Barricade exited the shack. "He's still just a sparkling isn't he?"

Firefly nodded. "It would appear that way. Have the other groups contacted you?" She inspected her hand for any trace of rust.

"Yes. They have started withdrawing."

The Empty that had led them to Canon's lodgings stepped into their path, his optics glowed hungrily. "Do I get my energon now?"

Firefly sneered down at it. "I suppose you have earned it, of course I could deactivate you and keep the energon for myself."

The Empty cowered and shuffled back. Pleased that it had returned to a proper distance, Firefly scattered a handful of energon treats in front of the Empty.

"Your energon will be given to you at the gates. Barricade, let's go." She stepped around the mech scrabbling around in the dirt and moved swiftly towards the exit.

Stormcloud and Blackout were waiting at the entrance of the Dead End. Trip-wire and Diesel stood on either side of them. She could see the other four Decepticons were already half-way to Darkmount.

"Why are you still here? I told you to go to Darkmount."

Stormcloud lifted a hand to show her Trip-wire's hold on him. "We weren't allowed."

Firefly suppressed her annoyance. "Go, just go! All of you."

They turned swiftly and hurried up the slope, arguing amongst themselves.

Barricade was grinning. "Will it be worth the effort?"

She started towards the fortress. "Better be. I didn't risk various rusts and viruses just to throw him back."

"The other one has potential."

"If you say so. All I can see is a bad attitude. If it looks like he can be molded, he's yours."

"How generous of you." He replied dryly.

She smiled sweetly. "It's in my programming."

* * *

**What did you think? Please review and let me know.**


	8. Hunting

**Sorry about the wait. I'm not actually too happy with this one but no matter how long i stared at it nothing popped into mind.**

**Enjoy**

* * *

Firefly stared hungrily at the tiered city. Sweet success was a single raid away, she could almost feel Elita-1's energon running through her fingers.

Unfortunately that would have to wait. Tempted as she was to drain her enemy of all vital fluids, Firefly had other, more intense, plans for her torture. Elita-1 wouldn't be able to escape her revenge for much longer.

She turned to Barricade and Stormcloud. "Enter the city. Find my prize."

The Decepticons under the command of her Second and Third swarmed into Tyger Pax. Elita-1 was hiding amongst the derelict buildings somewhere and Firefly intended to flush her out.

Misfire and Blackout stood beside her. "Set charges along the rim. Block off anything that could be used as an escape route." The two moved away. She called Blackout back. "I want you to go under the city. Don't let anything past you."

"Under the city?"

She sent him a sideways look. "Must I repeat myself?"

"No, sir."

He hesitated for a moment and Firefly sighed. "There are catacombs that run beneath the city. Take a squad and do a sweep."

The dark mech nodded and departed. Trip-wire was her last guard, his protective presence at her back was both disturbing and reassuring. It was an unusual experience for Firefly.

"What do you require of me, my lord?"

"Nothing yet, Trip-wire, stay here. Once the sweeper teams have reported back, then we'll claim victory."

"Of course, my lord."

Firefly smiled at the subservient tone. She enjoyed taking advantage of his complete devotion to her. "Fetch me a cube."

"Yes, Lord Firefly." He left.

Not waiting for the mech's return, Firefly rocketed skyward. From the air she monitored the invasion. Both Barricade's and Stormcloud's contingents were progressing well. A quarter of the city had been taken already.

Off to the side a chain of explosions began, the outer wall collapsed. A part of Firefly's mind felt sorry for the destruction of the once beautiful city, but casualties of war weren't always restricted to sentient life.

_*Barricade, report.*_

_*No sign of the target yet. West and South quadrants still not secured.*_

_*Complete the exploration. Bring any online mechs to the City Square.*_

Firefly cut off the transmission and dove into the city. She skimmed the air above Stormcloud and gave him the same instructions.

The sweeper teams had already passed through the center of the city, allowing Firefly to land without much concern of attack. Summoning the forces she'd left outside the city, she surveyed the damage time had wrought. It was obvious that only minor repairs had been made to increase the structural integrity of the decimated buildings. Most of the buildings she had destroyed before she'd gone offline were still in ruins.

Trip-wire entered the Square with the rest of the Decepticons. He looked rather put out that she'd left him behind. He handed her the neon cube.

"Run into any trouble?" Firefly asked as she kicked some scrap metal out of her way.

"No, sir. Tyger Pax appears to be yours."

"The last thing I want is this city." She sneered. _I don't need this haunting reminder._ "Set up a perimeter. If there are any resistance forces here I don't want to give them an opening."

Trip-wire nodded and moved away.

It wouldn't be too long before Barricade and Stormcloud returned, hopefully with Elita-1 in their hands. She sipped the energon in anticipation.

Cycles passed and Firefly waited with growing frustration. Where were her troops? Had the female Autobots put up a challenging defense? She doubted it before reminding herself that this was Elita-1 and the bitch had been smart enough to stay alive this long. Now wasn't the time to underestimate her enemy.

Her optics roved over the grouped mechs, they narrowed as she only saw Decepticons. The lack of civilians was unusual, especially for Tyger Pax. A hollow shell of its former glory it might be but it had once been the main home for neutrals. That sort of label would draw the displaced and hopeless even during war.

Barricade appeared from the left, distracting Firefly from her thoughts. The look on his face not at all positive.

"We found no sign of the Autobots."

Firefly's fingers tightened on the cube. That was all right, she told herself, Barricade had only searched half the city. A niggling doubt pushed at her. No civilians.

A handful of breems later Stormcloud gave her a similar report.

Anger twisted her features as she threw the half-full cube against a building. It exploded with a satisfying bang. She grabbed Stormcloud by the top of his chassis and shoved him to the ground, blaster in hand moments later.

"Do another sweep of the city and find her. I won't be denied."

"She's not here, Firefly. The Autobots gave you bad information." Barricade said levelly, moving her gun away from Storm's head.

Firefly was contemplating shooting him in the head when Blackout contacted her.

_*Firefly, I think I've found something.*_

Delight spread through her. _*Send me your coordinates now. Barricade, stay here. Keep an optic on everyone. You two, with me.*_

What Firefly found once they reached Blackout was not quite what she wanted. She strode through what was obviously a command center of some sort. From the look of it it had been hastily evacuated. The smallest of smiles graced her face when she spied the Autobot insignia on a wall. Elita had been here. But why wasn't she here now?

Firefly's logic circuits came up with the most likely situation; to avoid totally selling out his fellow Autobot, Ultra Magnus had warned the femme commander of Firefly's attack. Elita had then bugged out to avoid capture. She'd probably evacuated the city as well.

Laughter bubbled forth from Firefly's throat. If the Autobots thought that was enough to deter her they were sorely mistaken. The Decepticons watched her with mixed expressions.

The semi-manic laughter gradually eased and she sighed. "Take everything of value. I want all the information downloaded from these computers and decrypted. They haven't been gone long, a handful of joors at best."

Trip-wire was beside her instantly. "Would you like me to start a search of the surrounding areas?"

Firefly shook her head regretfully. "No. Elita-1 wouldn't be stupid enough to remain in the area. She's smart and probably has a secondary hiding place until she sets up a new base. Dammit!" She punched the nearest console, denting the protective covering.

"Lord Firefly, perhaps we should return to Polyhex. Tyger Pax isn't, structurally, the safest place to be." Stormcloud said from his place near the door.

Firefly looked up and nodded curtly. Blackout gave the order to his team and the abandoned Autobot base emptied.

"I take it this means the next Autobot we capture will be ours to play with?" Blackout asked once they were alone.

Her optics raked over him and his brother. "I'll consider it. Ultra Magnus didn't lie to me so he'll expect to receive some sort of ransom demand. Of course if the next Autobot we find is Elita-1, he won't be negotiating for anything except a headless, sparkles shell." She swept from the underground base, Trip-wire close behind.

Blackout shared a look with Stormcloud. "What exactly is her big problem with Elita-1?"

Stormcloud shrugged. "I don't know, she never told me. I just know I wouldn't want to be between them when they finally meet." He sidestepped a particularly jagged piece of broken flooring. "Did you know Elita-1 declared Firefly a 'heinous blight on Cybertronian ideals'."

Blackout's optics widened. "That's impressive. I thought only Megatron inspired that sort of hatred from the Autobots."

Stormcloud's head shook. "She's near the top of their 'most wanted' list, for sure."

"They have one?"

"We do, why shouldn't they?"

Blackout frowned for a moment before shrugging and following his brother into the open air.

* * *

Needless to say Barricade wasn't surprised when Firefly returned looking far from pleased. He'd known from the instant he'd stepped into the city that something was off. The absence of homeless mechs and neutrals had been the biggest clue. There wasn't a city anywhere on Cybertron that didn't have its share of squatters and vagrants, especially one that hosted Autobots.

"Was I right?" He asked as she stopped next to him. He couldn't have hidden the smugness in his tone even if he'd wanted to.

The glare she sent him should have melted the metal from his face. "I really feel like dismembering you right now."

He shrugged. "You could, but who would stand up to you if you did that?"

"You're lucky I like you."

Barricade chuckled. "What do you plan to do with Tyger Pax?" His gaze ran over the shattered skyline.

She shrugged, the scowl not moving from her face. "I don't know. I don't want it. You want to manage it?"

Barricade snorted. "You're not getting rid of me that easily. Tracer would be able to get this place back up and running."

"I'll think about it. Leave a team here for now, I'm not done with it yet."

They were silent for a moment then Barricade asked. "What are your plans now?" He knew she'd still be set on hunting down Elita-1 but she would also have to solidify her control of Cybertron. Shockwave wasn't going to sit back for long.

"They need more training. Blackout and Trip-wire especially if they're going to be in my guard. I'm sure Stormy's skills could use some revising. Unfortunately I can't waste my resources looking for a phantom. Elita will have to wait."

"Shockwave next?"

"Perhaps. Recall to Polyhex, we'll discuss this there." She said before taking to the air and leaving him behind.

A smirk appeared on his face.

"Barricade, sir, should we go after her?"

Barricade turned his head to see Firefly's puppy. The blue mech stared after her disappearing form. "Not unless you want to have a brand new exhaust installed."

The young soldier stepped back a bit and stuttered an excuse. Barricade dismissed him with a wave of his hand. The kid was entertaining but he took Firefly far too seriously.

"'Cade!"

Again Barricade turned to see another of Firefly's devotees. Stormcloud wasn't as bad as he used to be and that was only a good thing.

"What do you two want?"

"Are we leaving?"

"Yep."

"Where's Firefly?"

"Preparing a training regime I assume."

Stormcloud groaned and Blackout asked what that meant.

"It means we're going to get our afts ripped off and handed to us." Storm replied. "She's angry and we'll pay for it."

Barricade clapped a hand on his shoulder. "Get them into ranks and move out. Leave a skeleton force to watch over the Autobot hideout. Time to go home."

* * *

**Please leave a review, with your help I can only get better.**

**TammyCat**


	9. Flashback

**Massive apologies, its been so long! My brain has just kicked in again so I've been able to put this together. A bit of back story here just something to move it along really. More updates coming, I promise.**

* * *

The mechs were growling and shoving each other as they entered Darkmount's central hall. Droids buzzed around them with energon cubes. Each mech took one as they settled down and relaxed. The weather outside was stormy; the acid rains had driven them off the training field and into the shelter of the citadel.

Barricade slumped onto a bench followed by Misfire, Stormcloud and Blackout. Tracer stood beside the door, his sharp optics roving the room, making sure no trouble was about to erupt. Assured that the peace was going to be kept this time he settled into a seat with his own cube.

The door slammed open, bringing with it a blast of acidic wind. Firefly stood framed in the doorway. As soon as she stepped through, the doors slammed back into place. She stalked stiffly through the hall towards her quarters, limping as one of her legs was locked straight.

Barricade's group noticed that she was steaming as she walked, the acid rain had burned holes into her armour and seeped under some plating, it was eating away at her. Barricade gulped the rest of his energon and rose; snagging a second cube he followed Firefly.

A grin lifted Stormcloud's face-plates as they watched Barricade disappear. Blackout lounged against the back of his chair sipping at the energon.

"Are they together? Firefly and Barricade." Blackout asked slowly.

"I've already told you, no." Stormcloud shot his brother a glare.

"Your opinion doesn't matter. I'm asking someone who doesn't hero-worship her."

Stormcloud sent Blackout a darker look and sank further into his chair, muttering threats under his breath.

"So Misfire, is he greasing her axle?"

The purple mech laughed, Stormcloud buried his face in his energon.

Blackout frowned. "You didn't answer, what does that mean?"

"It means it's none of your business." Stormcloud declared.

Misfire hushed him with a hand on his shoulder. "Calm down 'Cloud." He looked at Blackout. "Firefly and Barricade have been together from the beginning of her career. As far as I know he recruited her and they've never been more than comrades."

Blackout nodded. "How did you meet her?"

"Mining operation." Misfire shrugged one shoulder and looked to the closed face of Stormcloud. "I know how Blackout met Firefly, but not you. Share with us Stormcloud."

He eyed them suspiciously before removing the energon cube from his face. "I was sent to her base for training."

"You're an Imperial?"

"Yep. She made sure of it, I wasn't allowed off the base until I passed RCT."

"What's an Imperial and an RCT?" Blackout asked.

"It stands for Rigorous Combat Training. The ones that pass the training are called Imperials."

"Anyway," Stormcloud continued. "I was shipped there with a bunch of other recruits. Some brand new, like me, and some fresh from the frontlines, like Shank."

"I remember him. Cocky glitch, on and off the field." Misfire said sourly. "He had less honour, on a good day, than Starscream."

"I heard about him, wasn't he one of Firefly's guards?"

Stormcloud nodded. "But that was after he tried to deactivate her."

Blackout frowned. "How does that work? Wouldn't he have been deactivated if he tried to destroy Firefly?"

"It was Firefly's form of punishment. He didn't even realize that he was being punished."

"Wait, I'm confused. How could he not know he was being punished for almost deactivating his commanding officer?"

"Let 'Cloud start from the beginning Blackout. A good story always has a beginning." Misfire leaned back on his elbows and nodded at Stormcloud to talk.

"I'm not sure how good a storyteller I am, but I'll give it a shot."

* * *

_Stormcloud walked through the guarded gates of the training compound. His optics ran over the groups of mechs crowding the open areas. Some were training, others were talking. Behind a set of large bolted gates, the sound of gunshots could be heard._

_A red and orange mech flew over their heads. "Keep it moving. All new personnel report to training ground C."_

_"'New personnel'" A blue mech next to Stormcloud sneered. "I've been fighting for three days straight, I ain't new."_

_"Three days? Where was the fighting?"_

_The unknown mech looked up at him. "Seven kilks east of Polyhex. We drove the Autobots into the dirt, sent them packing with their tailpipes burning."_

_Stormcloud stepped back a bit, the look on the mechs face was feral. The blue face closed down and red optics roved over Cloud's chassis._

_"You're a newbie. I bet you've never even seen any action."_

_Stormcloud bristled; this mech was rubbing his circuits all wrong. "Whether I have or haven't isn't any of your business, what matters is if I decide that you're not worth having around."_

_The mech laughed. "Good. That's the attitude you'll need here. My name's Shank."_

_"I'm Stormcloud." Behind them mechs jostled them forward. Stormcloud waited until they had more room to manoeuvre before looking around. The compound was larger than any he had ever seen, it was divided into several fields, and each had its own purpose. The gates he had seen earlier were now closer and he saw that they were guarded by multiple mechs. Beyond that a massive complex spread out and surrounded the training fields._

_"What's so special about this place?" He asked as they were herded towards the back to the open area, towards the guarded gates._

_"You've heard of the Imperials right?"_

_"Heard of them? I saw one right before I joined, they're amazing."_

_Shank nodded. "They get trained here, behind those doors, by Firefly."_

_Stormcloud looked at the gates in awe. "I've heard of Lord Firefly, do you think we'll get to meet him?"_

_The blue mech laughed. "I think you'll be getting a shock when Firefly appears."_

_Stormcloud shot Shank a confused look as they stopped. A large dark-armoured mech stood infront of them, his red optics roved over them assessingly._

_"Who's that?"_

_Shank sneered. "Barricade, Firefly's right hand. He does most of the dirty work. Watch out for him and Gale. They say Gale used to run a black market scheme back in Helex but now he works for Firefly."_

_Stormcloud nodded and faced the officer, his impressive physique and powerful aura demanded respect. Cloud wondered what Firefly looked like, would he be big like Barricade or more wiry? Stormcloud jerked himself to attention as the Decepticon officer began to speak._

_"Recruits, this is the Decepticon's major training complex. While you are here you are expected to obey all orders, insubordination will not be tolerated. Above all you must obey Commander Firefly, Security Director Gale and myself. Should you refuse to follow any orders we give you, you will be removed from this facility. Throughout your training you will be exposed to multiple environments and threats, those who pass these tests will be rewarded. A select few may even be chosen for exclusive attention to become part of the Imperials. This chance will only be given if you show enough potential, should you be chosen and then fail you will be returned to your original status as recruit."_

_Stormcloud felt anxiousness build in his chest. Was he capable of passing the tests? What did they do with the mechs who failed? His processor began working over-time as he imagined all different kinds of punishments._

_His attention was soon caught by as anticipatory hush went through the crowd. Following the gaze of the mechs around him Stormcloud saw that the large gates were inching open. Excitement pooled in his chassis as he tried to see who would be appearing through those doors. Would it be Lord Firefly or one of his officers? _

_The anticipation Stormcloud was feeling died when a slender femme emerged from the gates. A black Decepticon sigil on her shining red chassis declared her allegiance. What was a femme doing in the Decepticon army, let alone being inside the Imperials section of the base? Stormcloud dismissed the femme as unimportant and returned his attention to the black mech. Barricade stood straighter as the femme approached, giving Stormcloud the impression that she was important. Maybe she was Firefly's femme._

_The smile on the red femme's was smug and sent unexpected tremors through Stormcloud's chassis. Who was she? Cloud let his optics rove over her frame, around him he heard other mechs exchanging opinions on the femme. Her body was slender with enticing curves, places that would comfortably fit in a mech's palm; she walked with a confidence and assurance that Stormcloud wanted to posses. His processor catalogued her angles and features, committing them to his memory banks for later study._

_"Any potential?" Her voice was soft and husky. Her optics roved over the mechs._

_"Some. They'll need to do some basic training before I can split them." Barricade replied._

_Her lips pursed. "Make it quick. I want more playmechs. The next batch are ready."_

_Barricade nodded and faced the group. "Recruits. Into lines."_

_Stormcloud, like any half-competent soldier, knew what that meant. His position near the front of the group him caused him to be in the front line, almost face to face with the femme. She was more commanding up close, her face was silver and Stormcloud could pick out tiny scratches in the metal that hadn't been buffed out yet. Who let the femme fight?_

_Stormcloud didn't get much time to ponder this. The femme dropped to the ground infront of the platform. Her gaze went up and down the line, judging. Stormcloud stood taller, hoping to catch her attention. When her optics roved up and down his body before locking with his Stormcloud was sure she would single him out. Disappointment flooded his processor when she moved on. The thrusters in her feet ignited and she hovered, looking over the other recruits. After a thorough study, she settled back on the podium next to Barricade._

_"You're right, they're pathetic. Do what you can with them and let me know if any turn out to be worth my time." She turned away from them and disappeared into the nearest building. _

_The disappointment Stormcloud felt turned into anger at the femme's casual dismissal of them, of him._

_Barricade separated them into groups. A hand appeared on his shoulder, distracting him from his budding anger. Shank stood at his side._

"_You just met Lord Firefly."_

_Stormcloud gasped. "That _femme_ is Firefly?"_

"_Watch your tone, recruit."_

_Stormcloud jumped and spun around, Shank melted into the crowd. Barricade glared down at him. Now, Stormcloud was a fully mature Cybertronian but he was still several feet shorter than the dark mech in front of him._

"_Firefly is a seasoned warrior and your commanding officer. Don't make the mistake of underestimating her. Now get moving, you're in section C."_

_Stormcloud saluted sharply and hurried to his appropriate field. Embarrassment and anger burning in his core._

* * *

"So, what happened?" Blackout asked as his brother swallowed more energon.

"Well from then we trained. Like we did today. Weapons, hand-to-hand, tactics, history. Everything you would ever need to know if you wanted to rise through the ranks. I hated Firefly. She was always strutting around and shouting at us. The occasional beating would be handed out but otherwise it was pretty basic."

"How did you become an Imperial?" Misfire asked.

"Shank." The two mechs looked at him quizzically. "It was because of him that I got noticed. He played upon my anger over Firefly's dismissal and encouraged my hate. Well, cut a long story short, I ended up on a recon mission with Barricade and a handful of others. We just had to spy on an Autobot outpost. We were supposed to find out why they were there and how many there were. Needless to say, they caught us and we had to fight out way out."

"You got your aft kicked." Misfire said with a smile.

"I did. It was because of me that we got found out."

"What did you do?"

"Tripped a security trap. They came at us breems later."

"Then what?" Blackout demanded.

Stormcloud cringed. "Then I got my aft kicked by Firefly."

"Why?"

"Because I did it on purpose."

Blackout and Misfire stared at him. _Probably in shock_. He thought. _Who would have guessed that I started out trying to destroy Firefly?_

"Shank's plan was to get Barricade and Gale out of the way before going after Firefly. I helped him."

"That sounds very unlike you." Misfire said slowly.

Stormcloud shrugged. "I changed. Firefly beat the loyalty into me."

Blackout grinned eagerly. "Tell us everything."

Storm's shoulders slumped. This was going to take a while.

* * *

_He walked into the office fully expecting the dressing down he deserved. What he didn't expect was the fist pounding into his faceplates or being slammed up against a wall before his stabilizers had a chance to react._

_The face that glared into his was beautiful and terrifying._

"_This is the mech that fragged up my recon?"_

_Barricade nodded. The smirk on Gale's face boded ill for Stormcloud's continued good health. This was proved moments later when Firefly's fist plowed into his midsection. He doubled over as pain lanced through him. Electrical surges ricocheted through him._

"_What was going through your malfunctioning processor?"_

_Stormcloud cringed at her harsh tone. He slid to the floor holding his middle. "I'm sorry, Lord Firefly."_

_Her foot repeatedly slammed into his chassis and head. He didn't try to protect himself, that would have just made her hit him harder._

"_Apologies won't get me the information I wanted. Information you cost me."_

"_Firefly, perhaps you should question him before you deactivate him."_

_The kicking stopped and Stormcloud hazarded a glance up at the femme. She still glowered down at him but allowed Barricade's hand to ease her away._

"_What do you have to say for yourself, scraplet?"_

_He didn't move from his position on the floor. "I should have known that the Autobots had defenses. I was over-confident and foolish."_

"_Admitting to your mistakes is commendable but it won't get you out of being punished."_

"_I understand."_

_She sighed harshly. "Stop cowering and get up, you're not a sparkling so don't act like one."_

_Stormcloud quickly climbed to his feet. Firefly now leaned against a wide desk, running her fingers over a row of large spikes covering her knuckles. No wonder her punches had hurt like slag. She was wearing an electro-gauntlet. _

_The earlier fury was no longer in her optics but there was now something in her gaze he couldn't read. "Do you know why I called for you?"_

"_Because I failed you, my lord."_

"_That's true, but there is something else. I've been watching you for quite some time, Stormcloud. Barricade had reported that you have made favorable advances and are, usually, a very diligent soldier."_

_Pride swelled his spark at the unexpected praise. It was quickly over-ridden by the shame of his betrayal._

_Firefly continued. "You have leadership potential. It is because of this potential that I am disappointed at your behavior during this mission. Had you paid more attention you could have easily succeeded. That said, it is my opinion that you tripped the alarm purposefully."_

_Stormcloud's optics widened. How could she have known that? "I-I…" Something started to leak inside of him._

_Gale grinned nastily. "That's treasonous behavior, and all traitors are deactivated." He stepped forward and Storm felt fear cascade through him. Deactivation at Gale's hands wasn't the most desirable end._

"_Gale, wait." Firefly didn't even look at the hulking mech. "I want to hear his reasons. Tell me why you betrayed the Decepticons?"_

"_Your mercy is going to haunt you one day." He sneered back._

"_My mercy is the only thing that keeps you functional." Her superior smile obviously rubbed Gale's circuits the wrong way because he snarled and returned to his chosen corner. Firefly turned back to Storm. "Go on."_

_Stormcloud opened his mouth but nothing came out. All the reasons he'd had now seemed petty. Yes she could be a bitch but hadn't she just proved she could be fair. She had spared his life…so far. He closed his mouth and dropped his head. "I can't. I have no reason except a poorly based anger."_

_He heard Gale chuckle darkly and Barricade sigh._

"_Good."_

_Stormcloud's head snapped back up and he stared at Firefly in confusion. Behind her Barricade and Gale looked equally unsure at her reaction._

"_I take it that you no longer feel this anger towards me. I knew, of course, that you felt that way. Your face is very easy to read, especially that first day."_

_Stormcloud could do little more than gape. The sensation that something was leaking inside of him continued._

"_I had hoped that your anger would make you try harder to gain my attention. I did not however anticipate this unfortunate turn of events." She leaned forward and tapped the energon-stained spikes against her chin. "I promise you right now, Stormcloud, that if you ever sabotage another mission and place your team in danger again, I will personally dismember you while you are still active."_

"_I would happily rip him apart now and save you the trouble." Gale offered._

"_No." She slanted a look at the purple mech. "I have plans for this one, so don't be petty just because Barricade found him."_

_Gale sneered but remained silent._

"_Stormcloud, the rest of your punishment goes as follows; half-rations until I say, double sentry duty, you will also be required to see me before and after every training session. Understood?"_

_Storm did the calculations quickly. He would only get half of his required recharge, and on half energon ration, he would have barely enough energy to avoid falling into stasis._

"_Yes, sir."_

"_Good." She strode past him. Even though he was taller than her, she terrified him. "Barricade, escort him to the medbay and then to his quarters."_

_The black officer nodded and stepped forward. Stormcloud suppressed the urge to sigh in relief._

"_Oh, and Stormy."_

_He turned and caught another punch across his faceplates. He fell under the unexpected blow._

"_Welcome to the Imperials." She left with Gale, leaving Barricade to pick up the fallen mech._

"_You have ball bearings, kid."_

"_Thanks, I think."_

_Barricade snorted. "I suggest you stock up on energon and get as much recharging done as possible. You won't get much of either once Firefly gets started on you."_

"_Why are you so concerned?" Storm asked suspiciously._

_Barricade flicked his helm, Storm winced. "I'm not, I'm a medic and I'd like to see as little of you as possible. Understood."_

_They left the office and started towards the medical lab._

"_Was she serious, I'm in the Imperials?"_

_Barricade nodded. "Yeah, but don't screw up. The last thing I need is one of mine being sub par."_

"_What exactly do you mean by that?"_

"_As of now you're Firefly's pet project. I get extra privileges for bringing you to her attention, plus now I don't have to deal with your bad attitude. She'll be in charge of your training. Prepare yourself for a lot of aft-kicking. Screw up and she'll only beat you harder."_

_Stormcloud rubbed his jaw and felt the movement in his damaged chassis. "I don't think I'll be able to handle too many more sessions like that. I think she dislocated my jaw. I may also have some internal leakage."_

"_You'll have more than that before she's finished with you. Don't worry we'll get you fixed up in time for her to beat the slag out of you again." He chuckled darkly._

* * *

"That doesn't explain how Shank got close enough to try and deactivate Firefly." Blackout said.

"That was my fault. I let him persuade me that Firefly was unacceptable as a leader."

"You were her Starscream." Misfire chuckled.

Stormcloud nodded. "It's nothing I'm proud of."

"What happened?" Blackout stressed. "Where's the good part?"

"Eventually I agreed to his plan."

"A plan to kill her?" Misfire asked.

"Of course, what else?"

"Just clarifying."

"What was the plan?" Blackout asked eagerly.

Stormcloud sighed. "Once I was Firefly's main project I got the codes to the officer's compound. I was expected to deliver reports and other bits and pieces to her quarters so it wasn't unusual to see me there. The night that we agreed to implement the plan I gave Shank the codes and met him outside her door."

* * *

"_Are you ready?" Shank asked as Stormcloud approached him._

"_As ready as someone about to deactivate their commanding officer can be."_

"_She deserves this, you know she does." A long bladed knife appeared in his hand._

_Stormcloud nodded and typed in the pass for Firefly's personal quarters. He had some reservations about this, so many things could go wrong. But 8 vorns as Firefly's bitch had taught him not to back down._

_The door slid open with a quiet hum and Shank moved infront of him. Despite the darkness, Stormcloud could see well enough to pick out Firefly on her recharge berth. Offline, she seemed so far removed from the heinous bitch she was during training._

_They crept closer to the berth. The shadows stretched around them. The expression on Shank's face became more manic. He approached Firefly with his knife raised._

_Tension clogged Stormcloud's throat. Did he have the courage to do this?_

_Shank was just out of reach when Firefly's optics lit up. The tension tightened the cables in his body._

_She rose on her elbow. "Well this is unexpected. Why are you visiting me so late?"_

"_Your day of reckoning has come." Shank snarled._

_She yawned. "That's a very dark topic for this hour. Come back when it's not my recharge cycle."_

"_Don't dismiss me!"_

_He jabbed the knife towards her. A hand appeared out of the darkness, catching Shank's wrist before he could plunge the blade into her chassis. Stormcloud's gaze darted to the side. Barricade held Shank unmercifully. Gale appeared on his other side and Storm brought his gun up._

"_I should have known you were too much of a coward to face me alone." Shank sneered._

_Firefly smiled lazily. "Considering the situation, you are the coward, Shank, not me. Who but a coward would try to deactivate a mech while they recharged. Megatron doesn't even stoop that low."_

_The mech lunged at her but was caught by Gale. "You won't win. I will succeed."_

_One of Firefly's brows rose. "How? It's you against my mechs. You're defeated, Shank. Admit it."_

"_Hah!" He cried. "I didn't come alone. Stormcloud now!"_

_Storm stepped forward, there was a light _click_ as his gun touched a helm._

"_What are you doing? Shoot her!"_

_Firefly's husky laugh filled the room. "You're a fool, Shank. Did you really think I would let Stormcloud come and go as he pleased without having him completely under my control? He's been passing information to me for orns. I know all about you're pathetic plans to destroy me."_

_Almost faster that Storm could see, Firefly snatched the knife from Shank's hand. She tapped its tip once against his nose before burying it in his chest. Shank gasped and slumped in the combined hold of Barricade and Gale._

"_Get this piece of filth out of my quarters. Put him on display in the marching grounds." Gale nodded and dragged the limp mech from the room._

_Firefly handed the knife to Stormcloud and turned to her second. "Make sure he doesn't deactivate Shank. I have plans for him." Barricade nodded and left the room._

_She turned and faced Storm. "Well done, Stormcloud." She prowled forward until they were feet apart. "You have a unique opportunity here, Stormy." Her fingers closed around his on the knife's hilt and brought the pinkened blade to her neck. "You could kill me right now and take all the glory of Shank's plan and some of my power."_

_She pushed the edge against her main energon line. "What will you do?"_

_Stormcloud's processor stalled. If he took what she was offering he could take her place and lead the army and, better yet, the Imperials. His dreams of glory would be answered, his ambitions realized. His internal encouragement stopped there. If he did use the knife and slice through her neck, he would be a traitor. A Decepticon who gained his power by spilling the energon of his superiors was likely to meet a similar fate._

_He withdrew the knife. "When I deactivate you it will be when you are willing to fight."_

_Her laughter flowed over his audios like liquid. "A very good answer."_

_A silver hand flashed in the dark before wrapping around his neck. Warm air brushed over his cheek as Firefly came even closer._

"_What are you doing, sir?"_

_Her smile sent shivers through his body. "Rewarding you."_

_Stormcloud had stopped cycling air by the time she kissed him. Heat shot straight through his body to leave a tingling sensation in his extremities. His hands closed around her waist automatically as he opened to her. Storm wasn't sure what was going on, Firefly had never encouraged this sort of behavior before and he was fairly confused._

* * *

"What are you doing? Don't stop." Blackout demanded as Stormcloud claimed another energon cube.

"I agree." Misfire added. "Details, Stormy, details."

Stormcloud smirked at the mechs but didn't continue. Let their overload-starved processors conjure up what happened, it wouldn't be close to the truth. She'd given him his full Imperial badges that day. They hadn't interfaced, only Primus could have saved him if he'd dared that, but she'd kissed him royally before attaching the sigils to his chassis.

Storm still considered that the best day of his life.

* * *

Barricade grinned as the two soldiers tried to get Stormcloud to talk. Firefly flinched under his hands.

"Don't move or this will take longer. As it is, you'll be off active duty for an orn."

She glared at him. "I can't do that 'Cade. Elita-1 is out there somewhere and I will find her."

"Not if you lose the majority of your circuitry to acid rain. When did you last get your chassis reinforced?"

Her answering silence sent an annoyed surge through him and he removed some damaged wires roughly. Her yelp wasn't satisfying enough.

"As an aerial and a leader I expected better from you."

"Stall it Barricade. I didn't get a chance at upgrading while offline."

"I should leave you with your components exposed so everyone can see what acid erosion looks like." He growled as he started soldering.

Firefly smirked but remained silent as Barricade continued his repairs. A little acid damage wouldn't stop her, not now. Elita-1's escape from Tyger Pax was unfortunate but not disheartening. She had expected the Autobots to do something to protect the femme leader.

Her failure to capture Elita-1 wouldn't be repeated, not now when she had other plans that waited to be implemented.

"What are you cooking up now?" Barricade asked.

Firefly mused for a moment. "Once I have Elita and her femmes, how do you feel about visiting Earth?"

"Why do you want to go to that mudball?"

"Megatron. Staking my claim here will mean nothing if he returns and Starscream is in my position. I must renew my claim on our mighty leader."

Barricade chuckled behind her as he reattached her armor. "Starscream won't give up his power without a fight."

"Starscream doesn't stand a chance. He can remain Air Commander for all I care. I just want the power to destroy him again." She looked over her shoulder at her most trusted ally. "I want the latest reports on Elita-1 asap, and tell Stormcloud that this is an army not a bonding-retreat."

As much as she hated to admit it, Firefly was bluffing her rank and power. She had no official status in the Decepticon army since she had been declared offline. Only Megatron could solidify her position.

* * *

"Firefly, sir, I have an incoming transmission."

Firefly twirled in her chair. "Origin?"

"Helex, sir."

Helex? Why was Shockwave contacting her? "Accept it."

The main screen filled with light. Shockwave's head and shoulders appeared. "Firefly."

"Shockwave. I assume this isn't a courtesy call. What do you want?"

"I would prefer to discuss this personally."

Firefly transferred the line to her private console. "The last time we were face-to-face you had me imprisoned. We'll talk now."

"I have reports that you have had contact with the Autobot rebels and they were not destroyed."

"Keeping tabs on me Shockwave? How sweet." She drawled.

"Those Autobots should have been deactivated. Why did you allow them to survive?"

She crossed one leg over the other. "It was my prerogative."

"It was treasonous."

"Actually, I believe imprisoning Megatron's first officer is treason. Something I would be more than happy to relay to our illustrious leader when I speak to him."

"Your threat doesn't concern me."

"I'm not surprised." She said dryly. "While you're here, I'll have Megatron's communication's code though."

"if you have a report to send; record it and I will add it to my next transmission."

Firefly smirked. "You don't think he'll want to speak to his newly reactivated first officer directly?"

"I believe you have overestimated you importance in this army."

Firefly thought back on her relationship with Megatron and smiled. "I don't think so. When you're willing to work _with_ me in controlling this planet, contact me. Until then Shockwave, stay out of my way."

The screen went blank and she stretched. That one-opticed freak was a pain in her aft and would continue to be one until she established her superiority again. If she hadn't gone offline she'd be on Earth and wouldn't have to put up with this slag.

She contacted Misfire. "Report."

"No new leads, Fly. But we have discovered a pocket of rebels."

"Take them down. If any survive bring them here."

She turned to Stormcloud, who was always hovering somewhere nearby. "Have the brig readied for prisoners, and get me Barricade, I'll be in my office."

The red scout hurried away and Firefly headed for her secure hideaway. Barricade arrived shortly after.

"You needed something?"

"I want to know what Shockwave is up to. What do your mechs in Helex have to say."

He dropped into a chair. "Not much. Shockwave's increased his army but we knew that. He hasn't been testing any weapons recently, not that we can find evidence of anyway."

Firefly growled and smacked the desk with her fist. "What is he planning?"

"He might not be planning anything."

She threw him a look. "This is Shockwave. He's always planning something."

Barricade shrugged and offered nothing else.

"I think it would be best if we visited Helex." She said suddenly.

"Why?"

"Shockwave is off balanced by sudden changes in plan. I said I'm staying here and pursuing Elita and the Autobot rebels. If I suddenly show up at Helex he'll have to rewire his cerebros to keep on track."

Barricade nodded but stayed silent.

Content that her plan would be put into motion Firefly dismissed the topic. They discussed further advancements in troop training and the overall running of the fortress before Firefly released him and settled in to write and go over reports. Reports had never been a favorite activity of hers but it made keeping track of changes so much easier. Energon rations and ammo could be easily misplaced if it wasn't being monitored.

She was distracted breems later by a transmission on her private channel. Downloading the text message to a datapad she opened it. A grin spread across her face. Finally there was someone not completely incompetent on her side. There were no identifying marks to show who had sent her the information. Firefly was left to wonder who else wanted Elita-1 destroyed as much as she did.

* * *

**Please Review. It'll encourage me to write more. Thank you xo**


	10. Femmes

**Sorry about the looong wait. I've only recently been bitten by the writing bug again. The next couple of updates are ready, just need a bit of tweaking.**

**Enjoy!**

**

* * *

Chapter 10**

Firefly watched her troops invade the city streets with the kind of precision that made her proud. She turned to her lieutenant.

"Stay in radio contact." She pushed away and took to the sky.

The once beautiful city stretched out beneath her in a sad mockery of civilization. She flew over the western gates and watched as more of her soldiers streamed into the buildings. It would take a while to search through the whole city but this time Elita-1 would not be able to escape. The information was as fresh as could be.

A dark smile spread across Firefly's face as she thought of the various things she would do to the Autobot leader when she was captured.

* * *

Hours later Firefly was lounging on the roof of the city's tallest tower when she got the call. Immediately excitement flowed through her systems and she launched herself off the building's ledge.

The communiqué had come from the north-eastern sector. She saw Trip-wire waiting for her.

"Where are they?" She demanded as she landed.

"We located a base hidden beneath the streets." He pointed to a hole in the ground. "Barricade, Stormcloud and Blackout have already descended to secure the prisoners."

Firefly grinned at the word 'prisoners'. Clearly her faith in her informants was well rewarded. "Stay here, keep the Decepticons from running amok."

Her lieutenant nodded She stepped out over the dark void and dropped through, her thrusters activating and lowering her gently to the debris ridden floor below. Anticipation ran like hot currents along Firefly's circuits as she gazed into the Autobot's lair. It wasn't too different to the last one they had invaded. Except this time it wasn't empty.

A light shone from a room, flickering as someone passed in front of it. The sight of three femmes in stasis-cuffs off to one side greeted her; Blackout's gun was almost touching the face of one Autobot.

"Very good." Firefly purred as she studied the kneeling femmes. Her optics narrowed. "Where is Elita-1?"

A pair of angry blue optics glared up at her. "She's long gone, you two-bit excuse for a femme."

Firefly backhanded her. "If I want sass, Firestar, I'll speak to my lieutenants. You just need to tell me where Elita is and the likelihood of your going offline lessens."

"A couple of Autobots headed for the back before we could fence them in." Stormcloud reported.

She tore her optics from a smug looking Firestar. "And where are they now?"

"Barricade came through their secondary exit as we came through the front. He would have caught them as they tried to escape.

Firefly turned back to the group of femmes triumphantly. "Escort these three to Darkmount's dungeon and have a team come down here to remove everything of value from this dump."

She left the protesting Autobots in the hands of the brothers as she went looking for her main prize. Elita-1 and Chromia hadn't been among the already captured femmes. Barricade must have them by now.

She heard the sound of scuffling and multiple footsteps echoing down the dark hallway. Switching on her external lights, Firefly could see one large mech with a smaller one on each side.

"Success, Barricade?"

"To a degree."

Firefly frowned and waited for him to be fully revealed in the light. A slight green femme cowered on his right side whilst a tall red and black one sized her up from his left.

"Roulette, it's been a long time." She said, momentarily distracted from her prize.

"It has." The dark femme agreed. "I see being deactivated worked out for you."

Firefly shrugged. "Every acid cloud has a platinum lining and all that."

The elegant femme inclined her head but didn't reply.

Firefly turned her attention to Barricade. "Where are the other femmes?"

"They escaped. These two let themselves get caught to give the others a chance to get away. I sent mechs after them."

A familiar sense of thwarted rage began to build in Firefly. Elita-1 had escaped her again! How was that possible? She pushed her hate and anger into the black little ball in her chest.

_*Trip-wire, form a search party. Two Autobots have evaded capture. Also check radar, I want to know if anything goes off planet.*_

Elita was smart. She wouldn't stick around with so many Decepticons in the vicinity. She'd have gone into hiding somewhere. Maybe with the other Autobot rebels.

_*Sir, I have just received confirmation that a small pod exited Cybertron's atmosphere two breems ago.*_

Frag! Where was that little bitch going? Obviously Roulette wasn't going to give her any sort of answer, the ex-Decepticon was staring resolutely forward. Firefly grabbed the little green femme's chin, forcing her to look up.

"Where did Elita-1 escape to off world?"

Fear shone from the wide blue optics. "I don't know. Maybe Earth, to Optimus Prime. Please, I don't know anything."

Firefly pushed the terrified Autobot away from her. Earth, once again the little ball of organic matter was part of her problems. Maybe it was time to see what was so special about the mudball.

"Put them with the others. Then send a transmission to the escaping pod. Tell Elita that because of her cowardice, her comrades will be paying for her war crimes."

Barricade nodded and pushed the Autobots ahead of him.

"My Lord, we've found a treasury."

Firefly turned and followed the soldier to a previously closed door. Her optics widened at the collection of art. Many of the objects that had once graced Darkmount's halls were here along with some Autobot pieces. Her optics latched onto a painting that had sat on the wall of her personal quarters. Red armor and a charming smile.

"Have it all transported to Darkmount. Do not damage them."

The soldier nodded and signaled three others to join him. Firefly left the treasury and stomped out of the underground base. Anger still tickled along her servos, again Elia-1 had escaped her. Again. She shot a random Decepticon to ease her fury.

She transformed and rocketed into the outer atmosphere. The lack of gravity was liberating and Firefly glared out at the darkness. Elita would reach her sanctuary but Firefly would be close behind her. The thought was comforting.

* * *

Firefly strode into her fortress and headed straight for the Command Center. It was time to move forward. They'd been sitting here for cycles and she was restless for results.

The Decepticons saluted as she passed but they barely registered in her brain. The doors slid open and she marched across the room and into Barricade's office.

"Barricade."

"What is it?" He grunted, not looking up from his work.

Firefly braced her hands on the desk and leaned in. "Get the team ready. It's time to go to Earth."

Barricade looked up at her. "We've finally got Polyhex back into efficient operation and you want to abandon it?"

"I'm not abandoning it. I'm making sure it will always stay under my command. We need Megatron's acknowledgement to have immunity. Shockwave's just waiting for a chance to destroy me."

Barricade's hard red optics stared into hers. Firefly knew she could rely on him to give her the truth of his thoughts and not just what she wanted to hear.

"We have duties here that require attention. Not all of us can afford to take off in search of our ambitions."

She looked down and saw his fingers splayed over a report from the brig. "I know you take your responsibilities seriously, Barricade, that's why you are so indispensable to me. However, I need a strong show of support on Earth, only Primus knows what the status quo is like now. How will it look when my second in command isn't at my side? Hand the femmes over to Trip-wire until you get back."

"They'd eat him alive."

She glared. "Fine. Assign someone else, I don't care who, but you _are_ going to Earth. I've given orders that nothing is to change without my permission. Prep the team, that's an order."

* * *

Firefly stalked into her own quarters and paused. There was so much to do before leaving for Earth and Megatron. Polyhex would be secure in Trip-wire and Tracer's hands. She wasn't as concerned about Shockwave as she'd intimated to Barricade. Shockwave would have enough to deal with once she executed her plans inside his territory. Diesel was already in place to instigate the minor rebellions that would keep Shockwave busy until she returned.

She stood in the middle of her quarters and looked around. _Why had she come here?_ Her optics strayed to the hidden room attached to her recharging quarters. It held all the precious artifacts that she hadn't sold back to the Autobots yet. Some of her favorite pieces were also in there. They'd stay there until she returned and cemented her position in the Decepticon empire.

She opened the secret door and stepped inside, her optics surveyed its contents. Her gaze paused on the image at the far end.

Sideswipe's trademark grin stared back at her. His swagger caught almost perfectly in the still image. Firefly had admit once again, Sunstreaker was an amazing artist.

She turned her back on the artwork and made for the door. She was almost there when something internal stopped her and turned her around. Her optics darted around the empty room as if someone might catch her, she went back to the painting. Firefly carefully lifted it from its place and carried it out into her quarters. The hidden door slid shut and she was left staring down at Sideswipe's grinning face.

* * *

**The next one will be longer.**

**Please review, I really appreciate them**

**TammyCat**


	11. Earth

**Chapter 11**

Firefly tossed around during her recharging. The comforting nothingness of recharge was lost to her images, snippets of past and future desires danced through her head. A recurring dream floated passed her mind's eye.

_She could see herself on a throne beside Megatron. Together they looked regal and strong. No one could possibly take down their joint power. The Decepticons knelt at their feet, each one pledging loyalty and subservience. Triumph swelled in her spark at finally having achieved her goals. The Autobots were destroyed and she controlled the powerful force in the universe._

The dream changed.

_She now sat on Megatron's lap, her legs draped over the armrest. His large silver hands roved over her in a sensuous pattern. She was vaguely aware of the other Decepticons still in the room but their presence didn't really matter. His strong mouth nibbled at her neck and Firefly arched to allow him more room. Hands closed possessively on her hips and the lips trailed up to her audio._

"_I didn't know you liked an audience."_

_Firefly froze when she realized it wasn't Megatron's voice. Her optics moved and locked onto a silver face surrounded by red._

"_What the frag?"  
Sideswipe grinned. "Isn't this what you wanted? To be with me?"_

_He claimed her mouth in a searing kiss._

Firefly jerked online with a cry. She cycled air harshly as her mind tried to process what had happened. Her hand trembled as it came up to her lips.

What the slag had brought that on? She usually dreamt about ruling the Decepticon army but never had Sideswipe made an appearance. It must be because she'd found that painting again.

Her optics strayed to the picture that had brought on the disturbing dream. It had been so long since she'd seen him, she didn't even know if he was still alive. Something tightened painfully in her chest at the thought of his deactivation but she forced it away. That she still thought about him in any fashion except deactivated was bizarre by itself, they hadn't exactly parted with sweet words.

No, she had no reason to want him back in her life. At this stage it would definitely get her killed. Megatron didn't like it when someone touched what was his, and he considered her his property. At least he had before he'd gone off following the Autobots.

Firefly rose and started pacing. She had to step up her plans for organizing the government she'd leave behind, then she could join Megatron and take her place at his side. Hopefully putting a stop to any more disturbing dreams at the same time.

* * *

Shockwave stood at a console. In moments he would have to explain to Megatron that the Space-Bridge wasn't functioning.

"Shockwave. Activate the Space-Bridge."

But first he would have to deal with the cargo. Shockwave turned to face the new-comer. "There is not enough energon to power it."

Anger and frustration entered the husky voice. "Then how are we to get to Earth?" The red and silver femme gestured towards the mechs behind her.

"I have outfitted a ship to take you and your command..."

Suddenly the screen above the console came to life. "Shockwave. Report."

The purple Decepticon spun to face the screen. "Lord Megatron there is not enough energon to power the Space-Bridge."

"What!" Megatron's voice was harsh.

"Do not fear, my lord."

Shockwave was surprised to hear the femme attempting to calm down the outraged leader.

"Shockwave has provided us with a ship. We will arrive on Earth as soon as possible."

Shockwave watched as she approached the console with smooth, graceful movements.

"Though if I may make a suggestion my lord? We could use the ship to transport as many Energon Cubes as possible back to Cybertron since the Space-Bridge is not operational."

The image was thoughtful. "Very well. Depart Cybertron immediately."

"As you wish, my lord." She bowed along with Shockwave as the screen went black.

"Why?" Shockwave asked, he couldn't calculate why she had saved him from punishment.

Her cold red optics glared at him. "I want you alive for when I return." She then spun on her heel and left, followed quickly by her rag-tag team of soldiers. Had Shockwave been able feel it, fear would have run through him.

* * *

Firefly roamed the corridors of the ship as she waited for it to be prepped. She was avoiding Barricade. He'd noticed something was wrong with her the day following her disturbing dream about Sideswipe. To make matters worse, he'd seen the painting in her quarters before she'd returned it to its place in her vault. Firefly had brushed off his presence with an excuse.

He knew only a little of what happened in Tyger Pax, and if she had anything to do about it he wouldn't ever know the rest.

Had Sideswipe wanted to kill her that last day? What had happened to Sideswipe after she had blacked out? Did 'Sides leave her there to die? Was _he_ even still alive? What would she do if Sideswipe was dead?

The last question brought Firefly out of her thoughts and she would berate herself for even considering the slagging Autobot. If he were still active she'd destroy him herself. She might even bring him back to Cybertron and torture him. Polyhex. It was surrounded by the Smelting Pools and the Dead End, the perfect places to dispose of Autobot prisoners.

Her team was now 'comfortable' on the ship Shockwave had arranged for them. It was large enough to hold at least another thirty warriors, but Firefly knew that there were no other mech's she could trust to follow her orders. She was a femme and respect for femmes was alarmingly low, renowned Decepticon commander or not.

Boredom had quickly caught on though as they'd started their long trip to Earth. Stormcloud and Blackout had hidden away, experimenting with the explosives they'd brought. Misfire stayed mostly in his quarters or muttering darkly, he didn't like leaving Cybertron. Barricade and Firefly could usually be found on the bridge keeping track of their progress.

"How long until we arrive?" Blackout asked from behind her.

"Too long." She replied, her fingers twitching over the controls. Barricade looked at her in understanding.

* * *

_Seven Weeks later_

A light flashed on the control board. They had entered Earth's solar system.

"Not too much longer, gentlemechs, and we'll be kickin' Autobot aft again." Cheers greeted Firefly's announcement. "'Cade, land on Earth's orbiting moon."

"Why?"

"Because we don't want the Autobots or humans to know we're here. And because I said so." Firefly's patience was beginning to wane. She had been separated from the war for four and a half million years and was itching to feel the kick of her gun during a fight again. It was too bad she hadn't had more of a challenge gathering up the Autobots on Cybertron.

"Yes, Commander." Barricade smiled as he focused his attention on the planets passing by. The three mech's behind them continued to celebrate the end of their journey.

Firefly drew forth all the information she had received on Earth. The moon was a good landing place. The humans vision didn't range that far and the Autobots wouldn't have any sensors positioned that far from their base. They tended to have their security systems close to home. From the moon her troop could make the small jump to Earth in their pods and from there join up with the Decepticon army, while the ship remained safe. She had received the co-ordinates of Megatron's base before leaving Cybertron and hoped to Primus that they hadn't packed up and left.

They approached the moon quickly. Landing on the dark side they deactivated the systems. Firefly was just downloading the co-ordinates when Misfire ran onto the bridge.

"Firefly! The escape pods aren't functional." He reported.

"Blackout run a diagnostic, find out what's wrong with them?" Firefly ordered.

The dark blue Decepticon hammered away at a control panel. "It looks like Shockwave 'forgot' to repair the escape pods. They're completely off-line."

"Can we repair them?" Stormcloud asked.

Data filled the screen. "Not unless we have a repair hanger and a complete set of maintenance tools in the cargo bay."

Firefly's fist slammed into the wall. "Damn that fragging glitch! The next time I see Shockwave his head will sit on my wall."

Barricade gave his leader several minutes to control her anger before speaking. "What do you want to do Firefly?"

Firefly breathed deeply, causing her fans to whirr loudly. She removed her fist from the concave dent in the wall. Only she, Stormcloud and Blackout were designed with space flight technology. "Prepare to detach the front quarter of the ship. Get all the essential supplies from the cargo hold and secure them in the empty chambers."

"Does that mean all the weapons?" Blackout asked.

Firefly smiled at his enthusiasm, her anger easing. "Yes, All the weapons." The young were always interesting. "Bring up a pair of emergency thrusters and half the energon stores too."

"Why the thrusters?" Misfire asked next to her.

"Because we need to be able to get back here and I don't trust Shockwave to have checked the thrusters on the bridge's hull." Blackout and Stormcloud came back carrying crates of munitions under each arm.

"You couldn't have brought the energon first?" Firefly asked. Her bad mood dulled as the brothers grinned and raced away. "'Cade, I want the bridge ready for separation by the time they have finished emptying the cargo bay. After we've finished here on Earth, we'll return to Cybertron and deal with Shockwave."

Firefly's smile promised vengeance, Barricade's and Misfire's answering grins were just as dark.

* * *

"Attention. Increased Decepticon activity." Teletraan I alerted.

"Deploy Sky-Spy." Optimus Prime commanded. He was soon joined by the others in the control room; Jazz, Ironhide, Prowl, Elita-1, Chromia, Bumblebee and Sunstreaker. They immediately broke into speculative chatter.

The video sent back by Sky-Spy caused confused looks the circle the room. The Decepticons were gathering around a large metal structure.

"I've never seen that before." Sunstreaker said staring at the screen.

"Could it be an energy converter?" Jazz suggested.

"Where are they?" Prime asked.

"Sixty kliks northeast." Teletraan I reported.

"Who's near there?"

"Bluestreak and Sideswipe." Prowl answered.

"All right Autobots, let's find out what the Decepticons are up to. Transform and roll out."

Sideswipe received the communication just as he and Bluestreak were finishing their patrol circuit.

"Sunstreaker to Sideswipe, come in."

"I'm here."

"Sides, there's some Decepticons fifteen miles from where you are. Follow the co-ordinates and meet us there."

"Gotcha." Sideswipe relayed the message to his partner and they altered direction. The place they were headed to was well outside their defensive border but still too close for comfort.

"What do you think the Decepticons are doing so far from their base?" Bluestreak asked as they traveled.

"I don't know but I hope they don't mind if we crash the party." Sides replied with a grin in his voice.

* * *

Megatron moved through the ship in search of Firefly. It had been well over four million years since he had laid eyes on the dangerous femme. He was ready to renew their alliance.

Shockwave had informed Megatron before he'd left Cybertron that Firefly was in the middle of repairs. Megatron had doubted the truth of those words but when he had received the communication from his highest ranking femme officer several months after re-awakening on Earth, he'd complimented Shockwave on a job well done.

Finding the only energy signature in the detached head of the ship was easy enough. Firefly was in her quarters. Megatron stood in the doorway and watched as Firefly moved around the room. She turned smoothly.

"How can I help you, my lord?" She asked with a smile.

"You are missing your welcoming party."

"I will be there shortly, my lord." She was obviously waiting for him to leave. "Is there something you wished to discuss with me Lord Megatron?"

Megatron smirked and entered the room. "Yes there is. The arrangement we were…negotiating on Cybertron. I believe it will work just as well here."

Firefly nodded and approached him carefully. "I think that can be arranged." She smiled. "But there are new rules now."

"What rules?" Megatron asked with a frown. He didn't like it when his plans were interrupted and he had lots of plans for this femme. Most of them included his recharge berth.

"Nothing that can't wait." She replied huskily. Megatron only hesitated for a moment before pulling her against him and kissing her roughly. She responded sensuously, wrapping her arms around his neck. The kiss lasted several moments before she pulled away. "We have company."

Activating his sensors he noticed the blips approaching their location. He nodded and left her chamber to deal with their visitors.

Firefly breathed deeply as Megatron left her quarters. The Decepticon leader was an intimidating mech and as such demanded respect. It was too bad she couldn't give him what he wanted. If she still had a spark she would be tempted to share it with him, there was something very attractive about the power he wielded.

Rolling her shoulders, Firefly left the relative safety of her quarters.

*'_Cade get ready. The Autobots are coming_.*

*_What do you need?_*

*_Guard positions, you and Stormcloud. Have Blackout and Misfire be prepared to provide back-up if needed._*

*_Do you expect trouble._*

*_Of course. Especially if Elita-1 is with them. You know she wouldn't have been very happy when we raided their headquarters._*

*_And captured her femmes_.* There was a smile in his voice.

*_Exactly. Be ready for anything_.*

* * *

Optimus rolled to a stop. He and the Autobots were at the top of a slope, transforming he got a better look at the activity below him. Surprise filled his features, in the middle of a scorched area sat what looked like the front of a ship, in front of which he saw that the Decepticons were having a party. Or at least they were celebrating something with music and cubes of energon.

Elita-1 and Jazz appeared next to him, they were also watching their enemies with disbelief. They watched as Thundercracker and Skywarp proceeded to dance unsteadily around Soundwave, who was blasting out music while Dirge and Thrust poured energon into his tank. Ravage lay curled around Laserbeak, both were covered with energon and both were obviously unconscious.

"Prime!"

All movement stopped as the Decepticons became aware of their visitors. Optimus turned his attention to the voice. Megatron had just exited the structure. "What brings you to our little gathering?"

"What are you doing here, Megatron?" Prime asked.

"We're having a welcoming party. Surely you don't want a fight." Megatron gestured to his inebriated soldiers. "Why don't you come and join us."

Optimus eyed the Decepticon leader suspiciously. Megatron was in a very good mood and that could only mean bad things were going to happen. Prime and the Autobots moved cautiously down the hill, their guns still in hand. They were at the edge of the blast area when a voice rang across the clearing.

"Welcome to my party, Autobots."

The Autobots tensed as they recognized the voice, many aimed their guns at the building's doorway. Prime's surprise was minimal, Elita had told him Firefly was back.

Sideswipe's optics widened as he watched the darkness turn into a beautiful femme. His engine growled but not for the same reason as the other Autobots. He was relieved; he had thought she was dead.

"This is isn't very nice. You're not going to shoot a lady are you?"

"You're not a lady; you're barely fit to be called a femme." Elita-1 declared coldly.

"Elita-1, long time no see. I did try to find you back on Cybertron but you left without leaving a forwarding address…I believe the last time we spoke you were running for your life." Firefly smiled. "Ah, the memories. I would have said followed more swiftly but I was…busy."

Firefly watched as fury passed over Elita-1's face. She hadn't forgotten.

"Where are they?"

Firefly studied her nails. "Probably in the Smelting Pools by now." She looked up and grinned darkly. "Or they're being put to use in the Dead End."

A shot exploded. Firefly stood calmly as she monitored the bullets' approach. At the last moment Stormcloud moved infront of Firefly and deflected the shot with his wing. Everyone in the area pulled out a weapon, even the drunkenly stumbling Decepticons.

Firefly placed a hand on Stormcloud's shoulder and he moved aside. As she moved forward Barricade and Stormy fell into step behind her.

"You seem upset Elita, do you need a hug?" A grin flittered across Firefly's face. "Blackout, offer your services."

The dark blue soldier moved forward with his arms open, after a couple of steps, blades emerged from his hand and spun with deadly force. Prime moved in front of Elita-1 in an obviously shielding manner.

"Prime you're such a gentlemech. So protective and caring." Firefly's smile was both threatening and seductive. "Would you like to look after me?"

Chromia glared before commenting disdainfully. "Are you so desperate for a mech that you have to steal ours?"

Firefly laughed as she moved alongside Megatron. "Don't worry Chromia, I'm not interested in that rustbucket you call a mech. I've already got what I need." She slid her hand up Megatron's back until it curved on his shoulder. Megatron's arm circled Firefly's waist as he placed his hand on her hip component.

Firefly was feeling very pleased with the reactions she was receiving until in the corner of her optic range she saw Sideswipe. Unwelcome guilt shot through her circuits. Even though she refused to meet his stare she could practically feel the emotions radiating from him through their old link. Betrayal, anger and, underneath it all, relief.

The last one confused Firefly. Was he happy or angry that she was alive? Firefly knew Sideswipe had thought she was dead. All the Autobots had believed that she had died that day went she'd been shot by Sideswipe's gun. That was the rumor the Decepticons had spread after the battle. Did he still care for her?

Firefly mentally shook that question from her mind. It didn't matter what he thought. She had stopped caring about him and his opinions a long time ago. It was because of him that she could only endure Megatron's embraces. It was his fault that she could never spark-bond with anyone, he had destroyed her spark.

"I don't think they're in the mood for a party." Firefly looked up at Megatron with big optics and continued with an innocent demeanor. "Prime's girlfriend appears to be fairly volatile and it wouldn't do to have a fire-fight between intoxicated mech's. But if they decide to stay I'm going inside, I don't want to have her glaring at me all night." She waved casually to the Autobots. "See you around Autobots."

Firefly laughed as Elita-1 scowled darkly; with a final look over her shoulder she entered the ship.

* * *

**Welcome to earth, what sort of shenanigans will they get up to?**

**Please Review, I can only get better.**

**TammyCat**


	12. PreEarth

**Ok, so here's a little backstory just to get some things rolling. It's set after chapter 4. **

_#Comms#_

* * *

The Autobot twins crept silently through the devastated streets. They were searching for fallen Autobots. Bluestreak and Powerglide had reportedly gone down in this area.

Slinking through alleys and side-streets, the brothers scanned every broken building and pile of rubble for energy signs.

Sunstreaker grabbed Sideswipe's shoulder and pulled him behind some debris as a Decepticon sweeper team went past.

"Bluestreak and Powerglide went down around here, it's likely they've already been found." Sunstreaker said as they left their hide-out .

"I hope you're wrong, for their sake." Sideswipe replied. Rounding a corner they continued their stealthy trek through the city.

Five hours later Sunny and Sides were still sneaking around.

"I don't think they're in this sector. We've passed this building three times now."

A quiet rumble caused both Autobots to turn slowly. With wide optics they watched as a wave of dust rolled towards them.

"What is that?" Sideswipe asked.

"I don't know, but we should probably stay away from it."

"I guess it doesn't help that it's headed this way."

An unknown voice called to them. "Quick, over here!"

Sunstreaker and Sideswipe turned to see a silver and red arm waving at them.

"Should we?"

"Whoever it is, they can't be worse that whatever that is."

With silent agreement the twins raced towards the voice. Nearing the place where the arm had appeared they found only rubble.

"Where'd he go?" Sunny asked as they walked through the debris.

There was a grating sound just before Sideswipe and Sunstreaker felt the ground disappear from under their feet. The Twins fell through the debris, landing hard of their afts in a dark trench.  
"Now stay down and stay silent." The voice commanded.

Sunny and Sides looked over at the unknown transformer. There was something odd about that voice. Sideswipe shuffled closer; half-standing he tried to see its face. The silver hand that had beckoned them earlier flashed out and gripped his shoulder; he was shoved back onto his aft.

"I said stay down. If they find us they'll kill us."

"Who will? What was that dust cloud?"

The unknown transformer peeked through a hole in their cover before answering. "You really are green. I didn't think they'd send out anyone so under trained. When were you recruited? Last week?" Sunny bristled and the voice continued. "I mean moving in the open…were you trying to get yourselves killed?"

Sideswipe had been listening only vaguely to the discussion. He had been studying their rescuer's back, trying to place the voice. It didn't sound like any Autobot he had ever spoken to.

"What is that cloud?" Sunstreaker asked again.

"That would be the Demolition Crew."

"What are they doing?"

"Aside from the obvious…they make sure that anyone within the city limits is destroyed. Decepticon or Autobot, it doesn't matter to them."

"Why?"

There was a frustrated sigh. "Because that's their job. Now be quiet until they pass."

A deep rumbling overhead, as if a thousand feet were marching over the top of them. The ground shook and dust and dirt fell through the cracks onto their heads.

If the Demolition Crew was designed to wipe out any survivors, Sideswipe hoped that Bluestreak and Powerglide had made it to safety.

"They're gone for now but I don't suggest we go anywhere for a while. They will no doubt come back." Slowly the disturbance moved away from them, the soldier turned on a couple of low energy lamps. Long shadows stretched across the walls.

The trench was long enough to accommodate half a dozen mechs but too low to stand in. They would be hunched if they tried to straighten their legs.

Sideswipe was still pondering the mystery of the unknown soldier when the robot moved away from the covering shadows and settled against the back of the trench. A glimmer of color caught Sideswipe's optic. Refocusing on the body near him he saw a purple insignia, moving slowly he alerted Sunstreaker and pulled his pulse-gun out of subspace. Sideswipe reached out and silently retrieved the Decepticons gun from the floor and passed it to his brother.

"Who are you?" Sunny asked warily. The Decepticon turned its head towards them. Sideswipe's optics widened in recognition, it was the femme from the recruiting rally.

"Name's Firefly. What division are you with?" Sides noticed that one of her optics was shattered and the other was thickly coated with dust and dirt.

Ignoring both Firefly's question and Sunny's restraining hand, he moved closer to the femme. "Can you see at all?"

Her head moved back. "Yes, of course. I saw you, didn't I?"

"But you can't see well?"

She glared at him warily and stayed silent.

_Probably doesn't want to expose a weakness to someone she doesn't know… even if that weakness is staring them in the face__._ Sides thought. "Let me help."

He heard a muffled groan before Sunny was shouting at him over their private link. _#What are you doing? She's a Decepticon!#_

_#She's the one who helped me escape at the rally.# _Sideswipe explained. Sunny looked slightly pacified.

"Why would you do that?" The femme asked warily.

"You helped me."

Firefly's expression was still suspicious as she leaned towards him. Sideswipe worked quickly, he had basic medical knowledge. He's spent enough time in Ratchet's care to know how to fix minor injuries. There was nothing he could do about her broken optic but he was able to clean out her other lens and repair a few small energon leaks.

"Thanks." Firefly looked around their hideout before focusing on Sideswipe's face. "You!"

"Hi." Sides grinned.

"Dammit!" She scrambled away from him. "How are you still functioning?"

"I'm faster than I look." He winked. "So, where are all the other Decepticons?"

"I can't tell you. I should shoot you."

"But we have your gun." Sunstreaker held up the weapon. Firefly scowled before sighing heavily. Her whole body seemed to deflate.

"Brilliant. It must be a new record; I lose my unit, I lose my optic and I get caught by Autobots, all in one day."

She had said this so quietly Sideswipe had to re-sensitize his audio sensors to hear her. Sunstreaker's voice buzzed through his head.

_#This has got to be the fastest we've ever taken down a Decepticon.#_

_#We can't take all the credit, she is new to the game.#_

_#Yeah but we don't have to tell Ironhide that…We'll wait till dark before getting outta here.#_

Sideswipe watched the Decepticon femme covertly and caught her darting looks at him. She had backed herself into the far corner of their trench and was admirably trying to look defiant.

_#What about the femme?#_

Sunstreaker looked up from studying the weapon in his hands. _#What about her?#_

_#What do we do with her?#_ Sideswipe grinned at Sunny's 'isn't it obvious' look. _#I mean, how do we get her back to base? The city, what's left of it, is probably crawling with Decepti-creeps.#_

_#Knock her out.#_Sunny suggested. Sides nodded and returned his attention to the femme. It would be a pity to put a dent in her pretty head but he wasn't about to let her go back to the Decepticons.

Sideswipe ignored his brother's scowls and moved closer to the helpful femme. She eyed him guardedly and shuffled deeper into her corner.

"What do you want?" She asked when he didn't move away.

"Why did you help me?"

"I couldn't see properly." She replied testily.

Sides smiled, she was feisty. "I meant at the rally."

"I thought you were a Decepticon."

"Do Decepticons usually runaway from Soundwave?"

Sideswipe felt triumphant as a small smile appeared at the corner of her mouth, it was the merest lift but it was there.

"How many conflicts have you seen?"

She stiffened. "At least seven or eight."

Sideswipe smothered a laugh. "It's been only seven months since the rally. I reckon this is your fourth at most."

She scowled at him and wrapped her arms around her waist.

He shot her his most charming smile and her hands fell to her lap. "Come on, tell me the truth." He leaned forward until he was inches away from her audios and whispered. "I'll tell you if you tell me."

* * *

Firefly gasped softy, his silky words were like a caress. Startled by his friendly attitude and sudden closeness Firefly found herself unable to do much more than stare into his blue optics.

_He is far more handsome as a red mech__ than a blue one_. Firefly's optics went wide. Where had that come from?

A voice, muffled by the debris, called out above them. "Firefly!"

The three heads inside the bunker twisted.

"Barricade?" Firefly whispered before calling out. "Barri-umph!" she was cut off mid-word as Sideswipe silenced her.

Sideswipe caught her hands and pressed close to her. When she'd shouted Sides had done the first thing he could think of, he'd kissed her.

He felt her stiffen and try to push away from him. He followed her, unwilling to let her call out again, plus she was nice to kiss. Slowly he began to massage her lips, Sides was rewarded with a tiny moan as her body relaxed.

Gathering Firefly closer, Sideswipe reminded himself that she was a Decepticon. Her arms slipped from his hold and wrapped around his neck.

_This is just to keep her silent_. Her mouth opened under his. _Slag it._

Cupping her nape Sides plundered her mouth, he felt her hands clutching at his shoulders and he pushed even closer.

Sunstreaker crouched near the entrance monitoring the Decepticon above. He had heard the femme's groan and assumed that Sideswipe had knocked her offline. Keeping his attention on Barricade, Sunny failed to notice the sounds coming from the other end of the bunker. As the threat moved away Sunstreaker turned to his brother.

"What the slag!"

Sunstreaker stared, Sideswipe half covered the femme's body with his own. Their hands roved over each other's bodies, their mouths merged; lips nipping and caressing. It was when Sides moved her leg around his hips that Sunny broke from his stunned stillness.

Firefly was lost. The feel of the red mech against her was intoxicating. That he was an Autobot didn't matter at the moment, all that mattered were his talented hands and knowing kiss.

Suddenly the red mech disappeared, Firefly's optics snapped on. His silver face filled her vision, he sent her a roughish half-smile. Firefly was dimly aware of the yellow Autobot, it was speaking heatedly to the red mech in front of her.

Her neural processors clicked into motion. The red mech was an Autobot, they reminded her. Autobot! Shame ran through her.

With renewed purpose, Firefly pushed him away from her. She had never felt so humiliated in her life. The Autobot landed on his aft in the dirt. Firefly used this time to call out again.

"'Cade! I'm here!"

Firefly watched as the yellow Autobot lifted his gun to the trench's entrance and aimed her own weapon at her.

A scraping above them announced the arrival of Barricade. Firefly attacked the red Autobot, kicking him in the head, moments before Barricade leapt into the bunker. The yellow mech cried out what was likely the red one's name before he came face-to-muzzle with Barricade's pulse-cannon. Silence reigned for several moments.

"Firefly, are you okay?" Barricade's cold stare remained on the yellow Autobot.

"Yeah, I'm fine. Let's get outta here."

With a twitch of his gun Barricade convinced the yellow mech to drop his weapons and move away. The trench wasn't very wide but Firefly managed to get past the scowling Autobot without touching him. She looked over her shoulder. "See ya Red." and climbed onto the street. She heard Barricade growl some instructions before joining her.

"You didn't kill them." It was a statement not a question.

The dark Decepticon shrugged. "I've killed enough Autobots today."

Firefly noticed then that he was splattered with energon. Not the pure, pink kind that they consumed, but the dark kind that ran through their systems. Yes, Barricade had definitely killed today. She was glad no one had died infront of her.

"Let's get back."

Barricade smiled. "You need to stop giving orders and learn to take them like the other good little subordinates."

Firefly mock scowled. "One day I'll be your superior, and guess what my first order will be."

"Entire body massages for the whole garrison?"

"You, scrubbing the wash-racks for a month. With a sparkling's armor maintenance brush." She grinned deviously.

Barricade smirked and they continued walking.

* * *

Sunstreaker crouched over his brother, checking for any damage. The Decepticon bitch would pay for attacking _his_ brother.

"Sideswipe! Sideswipe, wake up!" Sunny shook his brother gently.

Blue optics came online slowly, relief flooded through Sunstreaker. Sideswipe's next words popped his lightening mood.

"What a femme."

Sunny dropped him in the dirt. Sides head hit with a thud.

"Ow, what was that for?"

"We could be dead now and you're thinking of the femme?"

"Wouldn't you. Anyway she couldn't kill us." Sides grinned.

"No, but the black 'con could of."

"She left with him then?"

"Yeah…Are you going to get off the ground?"

Sideswipe folded his arms under his head. "I reckon I could get her back."

"What!" Sunny cried. That kick to his head must have loosened a few circuits.

"She was incredible." Sides replied grinning.

Sunstreaker hauled his brother up. "Come on, let's get you to Ratchet, she obviously broke you."

Sideswipes grin widened. "She can break me anytime she wants."

Sunstreaker's only reply was a sigh before smacking his brother upside the head.

* * *

**If you have any questions or want more backstory, let me know. Reviews are greatly appreciated :)**

**TammyCat**


	13. Establishment

**Hi guys, **

**If you're still with me, awesome. If you're not because you got sick of waiting and no longer care, that's upsetting but I can understand.**

**So, it has taken me two years (roughly) to get my inspiration back for this story, and most of my others. Here I am, letting you know I'm still alive :)**

**I have re-written this chapter. I wasn't happy with how it flowed, only minor changes though. I have the rest of the story plotted out briefly but won't make promises of when I'll update. Last time I did that my muse buggered off and two years passed :(**

**Anyway, enjoy and please review.**

* * *

**Chapter 13**

Elita-1 was practically steaming by the time the Autobots returned to the Ark. Optimus Prime observed her with trepidation as she paced to control room. Most of the other Autobots were either in recharge or the at the moment so the control room was occupied by only the higher level officers.

"Elita-1 if you don't calm down you are going to rupture something." Ratchet stressed at the pacing femme.

"She has my femmes. I want her dead." Elita-1 seethed. "Who knows what she's done to them?"

Optimus Prime came up behind her. "What happened on Cybertron, Elita?"

"She has my femmes; Firestar, Moonracer, Glyph, Arcee and Roulette. She invaded my base, Arcee pushed Chromia and I towards the rear escape. Roulette and Moonracer allowed themselves to get captured so we could get away…I should have stayed."

Chromia placed a hand on her arm. "If we'd stayed, Firefly would have you stripped and tortured by now. She hates you for some reason and wouldn't hesitate in destroying you."

"Chromia is right." Optimus said wrapping an arm around her shoulders. "I'm more than happy that you came here instead of trying to rescue the femmes yourself. Together we'll find a way to rescue them. Ironhide, try and get in contact with Springer or Ultra Magnus."

Ironhide nodded and led Chromia out of the office. Ratchet finished his scans and followed.

Optimus pulled Elita-1 against him and whispered soothingly to her.

* * *

"Sir, Lord Megatron is searching for you." Blackout alerted Firefly via comms.

"Thank you, Blackout. I'm in my office."

Firefly looked around her makeshift office and pushed the report in her hand into a cabinet. She was surprised that any of the Decepticons were online yet. They had happily taken advantage of Firefly's energon stores and gotten thoroughly overcharged.

The Autobots had been an unexpected surprise yet satisfying in their reactions. Most of them anyway.

Firefly squashed those thoughts as footsteps echoed towards her office. She leaned against the front of her desk provocatively.

The door opened and Barricade stepped inside. Firefly moved out of her pose.

Barricade's brow rose. "Were you expecting someone else?"

"Yes, Lord Megatron."

"Ah, he's still kicking Decepticons awake."

Firefly dropped into her chair. "Fine. What do you want?"

"Have you received the reports from Cybertron?"

She nodded and held out the datapad he was going to ask for. The state of the brig's occupants. His optics skimmed the information before he grunted approvingly.

"Everything to your satisfaction?" Firefly asked.

"For now."

A movement behind Barricade caught Firefly's optic. Megatron stood intimidatingly in the doorway. His crimson optics never leaving her face. Firefly felt delicious chills run down her spinal relay.

"Barricade, I believe we can finish this discussion later."

The warrior nodded and edged around Megatron.

"I'm surprised to see you working already."

"There's much to do here before it's properly defensible." Firefly replied.

"Indeed. When that goal is achieved, I expect you to join me aboard the Nemesis."

Firefly squashed a spasm of panic. "Do you think that would be wise, my lord? I'd prefer not to leave my command and this base unattended."

"Is your Second not capable?" He asked dangerously.

"Of course he is, my lord." She said quickly. "But I would not have him believe he could overthrow me and become like Starscream."

Megatron scowled. "You are aware of Starscream's treachery?"

"Indeed. It was well documented on Cybertron both before and after my deactivation. He even tried to depose me once. But like I said, I don't want my team to think they can exist without me."

Megatron growled. "Do you have an alternate way for our arrangement to work if you're not with me?"

Firefly smiled softly and moved closer to his larger form. "I can, and will, still be your queen. If I stay on land we can maintain an advantage over the Autobots."

Megatron seemed to consider this. "The energon?"

"My team will do our best to collect and store as much energon as we can before we transport it back to Cybertron. My team and I are most willing to provide aid in your effort to collect energon as well."

"I forgot how prettily you speak."

"Diplomacy is an interest of mine." She smiled slightly.

A large hand snaked around her waist and Firefly was pulled up against Megatron's chest.

"I take it we have a deal?" She walked her fingers along his shoulder.

"For now."

Firefly lifted her chin to meet Megatron's mouth. Hard lips claimed her own while thick arms crushed her to him. She was pushed back until her hips hit the edge of the desk. Firefly propped herself up on the edge and allowed Megatron to push her flat on the desk. His hands moving over her frame roughly.

"Hey Boss, whoa!"

Firefly twisted her head away from his hard mouth. Frenzy stood in the doorway with Soundwave.

"Soundwave, get the Decepticons ready to return to the Nemesis."

The blocky officer nodded silently and ushered his still gaping minion away.

"We'll finish this another time." Megatron moved back and Firefly sat up.

"I look forward to it, my lord."

* * *

The Autobots gathered around Teletraan I. Prime stood closest with Elita-1 next to him. Jazz and Prowl stood to one side with Ironhide and Chromia. The Twins and Bumblebee were at the back with Ratchet. An active communications channel connected them to Springer on Cybertron.

"What can you tell us about Firefly's return, Springer?" Prime asked.

"Not much unfortunately. We went to collect what we thought was going to be deactivated Autobots but Firefly stepped out instead, told us she was in charge now and would be doing business as usual."

"Her sudden reappearance isn't comforting." Prowl said. "Especially since she was deactivated vorns ago."

Prime turned to Ratchet. "Have you heard of anything like this before?"

The medic's head shook. "I don't know how she could have come back from the Pit with no warning or rumor….Unless she hadn't been deactivated in the first place. Theoretically a mech can be maintained in a form of stasis lock for an extended time even with severe damage. But I've never heard of it been done for such a long time."

"Talk with Perceptor and Wheeljack, they might be able to help figure out how it happened." Prime ordered. Ratchet nodded and left. Prime turned to Prowl. "Take Sunstreaker, Sideswipe, Bumblebee and whoever else you need and organize surveillance on Firefly's base here. I want to know what she's doing."

Prowl nodded and herded his group out of the room.

"Springer, have you heard anything about my femmes?" Elita-1 asked when the doors closed.

A tired sigh came through the speakers. "No. I'm sorry Elita-1. But if Firefly really is behaving like normal they'll be in the dungeons beneath Polyhex."

Elita sent Chromia an anguished look. "They had better all be in one piece."

"If Springer is correct then Firefly will not damage the femmes. She'll want to keep them until it benefits her." Prowl said as he returned. "Prime, Bumblebee and Mirage are on their way now." He turned to Elita-1. "Firefly is fortunately a creature of habit when it comes to taking prisoners. The femmes will walk out of that brig."

Jazz nodded. "She's saved countless Autobot lives that way, even if she didn't want to. If ya were captured by Decepticons, ya hoped to Primus it was Firefly. That way ya knew ya'd get out with just about everything attached."

"She provides medical care as well, to increase trade value." Prowl added.

"She's a saint." Chromia said sarcastically.

"We at least know the femmes are safe for now in Firefly's hands. Were it Shockwave I'd be more concerned." Optimus said. "As it is, I'd rather not leave them in Polyhex for long. Springer. If you could arrange to somehow get conformation on the femmes status and let us know."

"Yes, sir. Springer, out." The line went dead.

Optimus placed a hand on Elita-1's arm. "We'll get them back."

She nodded. "I know, I'm just concerned."

"We should be. Firefly's unstable, she always has been." Chromia put in.

"What I want to know is what happened to Shockwave." Ironhide frowned. "The last we knew, he had guardianship of Cybertron. Springer said Firefly declared herself in charge. Shockwave won't like sharing power."

"Maybe she killed him." Jazz suggested.

Optimus shook his head. "I don't think so. Despite her numerous faults, Firefly isn't irresponsible. She won't leave Cybertron without a leader for the Decepticons."

* * *

Firefly studied that reports piled on her desk. So far there seemed to be a handful of worthwhile energy producing facilities that could be harvested for her purposes. It would take time to gather enough energon since she had agreed to help Megatron with his domination of Earth. Megatron's agenda was second to her own of course but she'd keep that to herself for now.

Firefly was going over a topological map of a potential target when Stormcloud barged in.

"Boss, we've finished securing the site."

"Excellent. Begin excavation under the ship. I want a permanent base ASAP."

Stormy frowned. "How long are we remaining here?"

"For as long as necessary." Firefly replied over steepled fingers. "Send me the leader of the Stunticons."

She shooed the younger mech away and turned back to her reports. There was so much work to be done before could begin to relax and investigate this planet. The event outside had just made doing that more complicated.

The hulking mass that called itself Motormaster entered and Firefly hid her distaste of the alternatively created mechanoid. "I require your team to assist my mechs in establishing this base. As soon as that is done you are free to do what you will until I have need of you again."

The big mech nodded. "I understand, Queen Firefly."

"Good, leave."

Barricade walked in and Firefly contemplated installing a revolving door.

"Well done, my _Queen_. You've succeeded in cementing your position."

"Call me that again and I will put you away for insubordination."

Cade smirked. "Don't you like your new title?"

"It's an empty title and you know it. I get to be queen just so Megatron can now be King Megatron."

He shrugged. "It's still better than 'lord'."

She scoffed. "And if he'd wanted to be called Emperor I'd be an Empress."

Barricade paused. "So, what's the plan now?"

Firefly scratched some markings on a datapad. "Now we get as much energon as we can and get off this mudball…. And I think I've found our first harvesting site."

* * *

Bumblebee hurried into Optimus Prime's office, followed closely by Prowl. Jazz reclined in one of Prime's guest chairs.

"You have something to report?"

"Yes, sir."

"What are the Decepticons doing?"

"I'm not sure, sir, but there was some sort of ceremony and Megatron had all the Decepticons bow to him and the femme. They left after that."

The others frowned. "How many remain at that location?" Prowl asked.

"The femme, her four mechs and the Stunticons. It looks like they're setting up to stay."

"What are they doing?"

"A full security network, perimeter beacons. There's definitely some internal work being done."

Optimus nodded and dismissed the small turned to his two top officers.

"Firefly is apparently digging in."

"That's not good." Jazz said.

Prowl's doorwings flicked. "No, it's not. Her reappearance was bad enough."

"Has Ratchet come up with an answer as to how that happened?"

Prowl shook his head. "Nothing new. He still believes that she was somehow maintained in a state of stasis while they repaired her."

Jazz relaxed in his chair. "That's one Pit of a repair job. I saw how badly she copped it that day. Sideswipe blew straight through her.

Optimus nodded. "I'm surprised her spark wasn't extinguished."

"There were times when I didn't think that femme could be deactivated. I think there could be something to it now." Jazz added.

"Why do you say that?" Prowl asked.

"We tried to kill her numerous times during the war. No, Optimus, we did." He said when Prime went to interrupt. "You even approved a couple of attempts….that said, every time we tried to destroy her she survived. There has to be a reason she's still here."

"Are you trying to say that Firefly is protected by Primus."

Jazz shrugged. "Divine intervention or not, you gotta admit, she's one hard bitch to deactivate."

Optimus sighed, Jazz _was_ right. Firefly was a very hard femme to deactivate.

"Prime, do you have any orders?" Prowl asked.

Optimus shook his head. "Previous orders apply."

Prowl nodded and left the office with Jazz. They got to Prowl's office before Jazz spoke.

"Did Prime just say what I think he said?"

"Yes. We have full permission to covertly deactivate Firefly should the opportunity arise."

Jazz grinned deviously. "Assassinations, when done properly, can be quite beautiful."

Prowl leveled a quelling look at his friend. "Please try to keep your anticipation subdued in front of the other Autobots, it disturbs them….Need I remind you that it is a last choice option."

"Yeah, yeah, I know. Prime's first choice is to get her on our side."

Prowl nodded. "We need to know what she's up to. But if it were achievable that would be quite the coup."

Jazz paused. "What if we could?"

"What could we possible offer Firefly to temp her into defecting?" Prowl asked dryly. "She has position and power amongst the Decepticons."

"What about safety?" Jazz started to pace. "We could make it look like she was already working with us. Then, when Megatron finds out she'll come to us for protection."

"Ignoring some blatant holes in your scheme, the chance that she'll figure out who set her up and want revenge is high. Too high for me to allow."

Jazz frowned. "Fine…what if we set up some innocent circumstances that look suspicious?"

"Explain."

"Before Earth Firefly was on good trading terms with some Autobots, secretly. Let's get that started back up."

Prowl considered it. "Who do you suggest?" A list of potential mechs already going through his head.

"Mirage, I think he'd be our best bet. Not many of our mechs here had much to do with her."

Prowl shook his head. "No. He was only around for a short time. If we're going to actually try and turn her we need someone who knew her well."

"Roulette." Jazz replied. "But she's still on Cybertron…So are most of her other contacts…Wait, wasn't she in contact with the Twins before she declared a personal war on Sideswipe?"

"Sideswipe and Sunstreaker are yours. Find out what you can. He wasn't the best after he shot her. If the Twins can't do it get Bumblebee or Mirage. As a last choice, yourself."

Jazz grinned. "I love your confidence in me."

Prowl allowed a small, rare smile. "I'd rather not risk our Third-in-Command and best assassin just yet."

He laughed. "You do know how to turn my head."

"Point it in the right direction and talk to the Twins….If you see him, could you send Mirage to me. I have something for him to do."

"Are you going to share your plan with me?"

"Maybe later."

Jazz laughed and left Prowl's office, hunting down his old apprentices.

Sunstreaker was relaxing in the mess hall when Jazz tracked them down. The cube of energon he'd been drinking sat abandoned on the table as he listened to what Jazz and Prowl wanted them to do. The subdued excitement coming from Sideswipe wasn't making his attitude any brighter.

"You're both insane. She hates us."

"You used to trade with her a lot."

Sunny scowled. "I went hoping to put a hole in her head. I'd have killed her long ago if I'd had my way."

Jazz turned to his brother. "What about you, Sides? Are you able to get in contact with her?"

Sunny watched angrily as Sideswipe made a show of thinking about it. In their shared bond he could feel anticipation radiating from Sideswipe. The idiot was going to take the mission.

Sides leaned back in his chair. "Yeah, I reckon I could do it. She liked me for a bit."

"Until you shot her." Jazz laughed.

Sunstreaker felt the flinch in his brother although nothing showed on his face except a smirk. The memory of that event had haunted the red twin for vorns after.

"Now that she's back I might be able to work some magic on her."

"O'course. Just remember, if ya cross a line there will be consequences. Find out what she's up to, if ya can turn her to our side that would be a plus."

Sideswipe mock saluted. Sunstreaker just wanted to beat his head against the table. Such sheer stupidity was astounding.

"What's the matter, Sunny?" Sideswipe asked, grinning that stupid smile.

He continued to glare at Jazz's retreating back. "I can't believe you're doing this…Actually I can, that's probably what makes me so angry."

"It won't be like last time."

He turned his blazing stare on his brother. "You're not going to make an aft of yourself over her again? You're not going to 'conveniently' be indisposed when she escapes? You're not going to mope when she ignores or attacks you? And when she dies, you're not going to disappear inside yourself again?"

Sunstreaker felt Sides pull away through their bond. He knew that later he'd regret saying these things but right now he was furious.

"I don't need you on this one, Sun."

"Good, because I'm not helping you get fragged up again."

Sideswipe shoved to his feet and took off after Jazz. Sunny punched the table.

* * *

Firefly flew over the dam first. It was fairly small in comparison to some of the others she'd targeted but it would be a good spot to start and her team would be able to handle it without the aid of the Stunticons.

She landed and summoned her crew. A couple of the small organics that worked on the dam came running out. She automatically translated the strange language.

"Are you an Autobot or Decepticon?"

Firefly pointed her blaster at it. "Take a guess." The human paled. Barricade and the others landed behind her. "If you do what I ask I won't kill you, agreed?"

It nodded.

"Good. My associate here will go into detail."

Stormcloud moved forward and crouched down to communicate at its level.

Satisfied that the project would go forward without a fight, Firefly studied the powerstation at a closer level. Barricade was nearby doing a similar inspection.

"What do you think?"

He nodded thoughtfully. "It has potential. A small enough plant not to attract Megatron's attention. I wouldn't put it past the Autobots to be tracking us though."

"We'll deal with that when the time comes."

* * *

**So, Whatcha think? Keep going? Stop writing and burn all my supplies? Let me know.**

**Catch ya later lovelies,**

**TammyCat**


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